


Meltdown

by MissNewGoomy (5dshadesofgay)



Series: Deja Vú [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: AkuSai, AkuSai - Relationship - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, But mostly Isa/Lea in this part, M/M, Soriku - Relationship - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-11-09 07:33:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 31,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11099883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5dshadesofgay/pseuds/MissNewGoomy
Summary: Inspired by my favorite Vocaloid song, Meltdown, which just seemed to fit the air of this fic perfectly. I used the lyrics from the VocaloidLyrics Wikia. Also, I really couldn't find many KH/Avatar AUs so I wrote my own about my otp (Isa/Lea) and my favorite character (Vanitas) and somehow I ended up with a decent fic. This is part 1 of 2 fics in the series. The series is named Deja Vú after a Vocaloid song that just SCREAMED AkuSai to me. Also I promise part 2 will have a lot more bending and relationship development lolBeta'd by my offline friend Noel (chapters coming out will be up to when she can beta them but they ARE written)I will do my best to post trigger warnings at the beginning of each chapter when it applies. If I don't tw something that upsets you, I apologize and please let me know so I can tw it for future reference!**Now for the REAL summery:**Lea escapes from The Organization only to be relentlessly hunted. When he meets a man who looks exactly like Roxas, weird things happen that can't be explained linking his new friend to Roxas, but what could it mean?





	1. Chapter I

**~~~**

**_The city lights are spectacular_ **

**_But I feel ether’s lingering chill_ **

**_I can’t sleep, it’s 2 am_ **

**_And everything seems to move so quickly_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

There were no clouds, but there were no stars- not in this city. Light pollution- that’s what they called it. The streets and walkways were more or less bare, though there was still snow piled around, sitting as if it, too, had given up, just as the city had. The only thing keeping the red haired man with a yellow scarf warm was his own breath as he sat against the wall of an old building. If he started a fire he’d be caught for sure, so all he could do was take a deep breath and exhale what little flame he dared spare. He was so focused on keeping warm that he didn’t hear the hooded figure sneak up from behind him.

 

“Now, just how long do you think you can keep that up?”

 

The red haired man froze, the warmth of his fire dying inside him before it could be born. It didn’t stop him from speaking, however.

 

“As long as I need to,” he hissed as the dark figure walked to turn right in front of him. The hooded figure sighed.

 

“I don’t know what you think you’re accomplishing by doing this… so just come back with me and things can go back the way they were.”

 

“Things can _never_ go back to the way they were!” the man on the ground growled.

 

“Just come back to us,” whined the hooded man. “I’m not cut out for this sort of mission…c’mon, Axel-“

 

“ **My name isn’t Axel!** ” Not-Axel snarled, jumping up. “It’s _Lea_. And your name isn’t Demyx; It’s Myde or Dyme, or something…!”

 

“What are you talking about?” the man sighed whiningly again, as though this was boring to him. “My name has always been Demyx-“

 

“No, it hasn’t! You’re being brainwashed!” Lea said.

 

“I don’t know who gave you _that_ idea,” Demyx snorted. “Just come back. Sure, you’ll be reprimanded for a bit, but things can go back to the way they were-“

 

“ _No_ they _can’t!_ Do you think I’d just forget about Roxas and Xion?! What they’re doing is _wrong_ … Myde- Dyme, whoever you are, you have to fight them! You have to remember who you used to be!”

 

“If you don’t come back with me, they’ll send an assassin after you,” Demyx told him. “They sent me to bring you back in order to avoid that. C’mon, just come back, and we can continue to pursue our goal, like we always intended! We’re making the world a better place for people like us!”

 

“Better how? Everyone’s afraid of the Organization. What you’re doing is only benefitting _you_. I won’t be part that!”

 

“Well, then you don’t leave me much of a choice…”

 

The Organization was full of people with special skills. _Very_ special. Extremely unique. And Demyx was very special and extremely unique because he could waterbend using music. All it took was one strum of his sitar and human-sized beings made of water would appear and do his bidding.

 

_He’s going to wake up the whole city…!_ Lea snorted to himself. _What were they_ ** _thinking?!_**

 

A few fire kicks later he knew _exactly_ what they were thinking.

 

_Of course they’d send Demyx,_ he thought bitterly as the water people reformed, _water is stronger than fire, and Demyx never turns it to ice like most waterbenders…_

 

His only hope was to dodge the water and aim at the sitar. Without his precious instrument, Demyx would be powerless. He’d never learned _real_ waterbending. Why would he need to, when all he needed was music? Lea sucked up all the warmth from around him and let forth a giant fireball, aimed straight at the wooden sitar. Demyx yelped, two of his water puppets jumping in front of him. They broke under the power of raw fire and Lea followed up immediately with more fire before more water people could come to Demyx’s aid.

 

“Stop it- you’re burning it!” Demyx pleaded, and Lea knew he was not one to fake out an opponent so he backed off. The streets were now soaked and slowly freezing over. There was a large scorch mark on Demyx’s sitar and the strings had burnt up.

 

“They’re gonna kill you, Axel,” he said sadly, a dark portal springing up from the ground. “I was hoping you’d come back with me and then they’d let you live.”

 

“That wasn’t ‘living,’” Lea replied, “it was _existing_.”

 

Demyx disappeared without another word, the portal vanishing behind him. Lea sighed, fixing his scarf. The good news was he was warm now. The bad news was that he’d have to relocate.

 

***

 

There was a knock on the door, more of a warning than a request, before it was rudely forced open.

 

“Why didn’t you come straight to me when you returned?” the room invader demanded.

 

“I needed to re-string my sitar,” Demyx replied with a pout. The man who stood towering over him had long, flowing blue hair and sharp amber eyes. The grimace he wore only seemed to deepen, causing the x-shaped scar on his face to distort.

 

“I can only assume that this means your mission was a failure?” he breathed.

 

“Do you _see_ Axel with me?”

 

The other man sighed, running a hand down his face.

 

“That fool… he _must_ know what will happen to him now…”

 

“Hey, I warned him, but he wasn’t listening. It’s out of my hands now.”

 

“Don’t think this doesn’t mean you _won’t_ be reprimanded for failing your mission.”

 

“How is _that_ fair?!” Demyx whined. “Axel deserts us and _I_ get punished?!”

 

“That’s not for me to decide. Take it up with the Superior, if you _dare_.”

 

Demyx didn’t even _dare_ to reply to _that._ The man left and returned to his office where a man with silver hair was waiting for him.

 

“Lord Xemnas.”

 

“Saix.”

 

They nodded at each other.

 

“I take it Demyx failed?” Xemnas said.

 

“Correct.”

 

"Then you know what must be done."

 

"Understood."

 

Xemnas left through a dark portal, leaving Saix to sit down at his desk.

 

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go…” he whispered to himself, rubbing his temples. “Axel… why did you change…?”

 

***

 

**I WANT TO BE WHOLE AGAIN**

 

**I NEED TO BE WHOLE AGAIN**

 

 

**WHERE IS MY LIGHT….?**

 

 

Lea woke with a gasp, drenched in sweat. He knew that voice... somewhere deep in his memory. But before he could think on it more he realized that there were a pair of big blue eyes in front of his face.

 

"GAAAHH!!!!"

 

Lea shot flame in front of him and the creeper jumped back with a yelp.

 

"Stop, don't hurt me!" he yelled, and Lea _knew_ that voice even though it couldn't be possible...

 

"I was checking if you were alive- you were so still and it's below freez-!"

 

" _Roxas_?!"

 

Lea was so happy he almost burst into tears on the spot. But then he noticed that, despite this stranger being the splitting image of Roxas, he was much older than him. In fact, he looked to be about Lea's age. It was as if Roxas had jumped ten years into the future.

 

"No...?" the mysterious man said with confusion. "My name is Ventus."

 

"Sorry," Lea took a breath to calm himself down. "It's just... you look exactly like someone I know. You even have the same haircut! You don't happen to have a little brother, do you?"

 

"Honestly, I wouldn't know," Ventus shrugged. "I've been having a hard time remembering things. I was asleep for a long time. But it's weird you thought I looked familiar, because the reason I noticed _you_ was because I had the strangest feeling that I had seen you before..."

 

"That _is_ weird," Lea agreed. They sat in silence until Ventus said, "So... do you have a place to stay, or do you just _like_ to sleep outside in the cold?"

 

"I currently do not have a living space," Lea admitted, scratching the back of his head.

 

“I have a place! You’re welcome to stay with me, if you want,” Ventus offered.

 

“Really? You’d just let me, a complete stranger, stay with you?” Lea asked skeptically.

 

“You’re not a _complete_ stranger,” Ventus chuckled, “I can’t explain it but I feel like I _know_ you. Or that I used to, like, in another lifetime.”

 

“You don’t even know my name.”

 

“Do you want to have a roof over your head or not?”

 

Lea grinned and stood up, his muscles aching due to having fallen asleep on the ground. He held out his hand for Ventus to shake.

 

“The name’s Lea,” he introduced himself. “Got it memorized?”

 

“‘Got it memorized?'” Ventus laughed, shaking his hand. “That sounds… familiar. Did you get that from a book or something?”

 

“No, it’s just something I say. Like a catchphrase,” Lea said, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve heard it before?”

 

“I don’t know… I _feel_ like I have… Just like I feel like I’ve seen you before… I don’t know, all kinds of weird things have been happening since I woke up…”

 

“Since you woke up? How long were you asleep?”

 

“I’m not _quite_ sure but I think… around ten years?”

 

Lea was stunned.

 

“You’re joking.”

 

“I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”

 

When Lea kept staring, Ventus said, “Hey, if _you_ think that’s weird, imagine how _I_ felt! Anyway, my place is a few blocks down. Even firebenders can catch colds, so we’d better go get you warmed up.”

 

Ventus had been staying in a small apartment on the edge of the city. It was rented to him by a kind landlord who only asked that in return, Ventus do some odd jobs for him here and there. So far it had only been things like running errands for him- deliver mail, pick up dry cleaning, wash the windows. Ventus didn’t mind at all.

 

“It’s pretty small,” Ventus said when he led Lea into the apartment, “but then again, it was only supposed to be for just me.”

 

“It beats sleeping on the streets,” Lea said, immediately lighting a fire in the fireplace with a flick of his wrist.

 

“Well, the couch is all yours,” Ventus offered, and Lea immediately flopped down on it. “Help yourself to anything in the fridge, too. I’ve got plenty.”

 

“Thanks,” Lea nodded at him. “Are you sure you’re okay with me sleeping here? I know there’s been weird coincidences between us, but I’m really just a stranger to you.”

 

“It’s fine,” Ventus insisted. “I trust you.”

 

“Do you always just trust complete strangers? Because that could end badly for you.”

 

“Of course not. But I really have this feeling like I know you from somewhere. And you said I look like your friend, Roxas. I’m telling you, it’s _fine_.”

 

“Okay, alright. I just wanted to make sure you’re really alright with it.”

 

After Ventus went to bed, Lea stayed up thinking. Why did he look so much like Roxas? And why did he just seem to trust him, a complete stranger, so easily, even _if_ he had a feeling that he was familiar somehow? Only someone with pure light in their heart could be that naive and trusting.

 

_I’m gonna have to look out for him, just like I did Roxas,_ Lea snorted to himself as he finally began to drift off to sleep.

 

While they were sleeping, a dark shadow seeped into Ventus’s room through the minuscule crack in the window and formed into a tall shape. It loomed over Ventus’s form, watching him sleep.

 

**_I’ve finally found you... Ventus…_ **


	2. Chapter II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ventus and Lea get an unexpected visitor in the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: abuse/past abuse

**~~~**

**_I’m like a lighter out of fluid_ **

**_My insides are on fire_ **

**_Sometimes I wish_ **

**_It was all a lie_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

“LEA! HELP!”

 

Lea shot off the couch, immediately woken up by Roxas’s scream. Without even thinking, he burst into the room where the scream had come from and threw a flaming punch at the dark figure. How had The Organization found him so quickly?

 

“GAAHH…!” The dark figure stumbled back and Lea realized that he wasn’t wearing a black coat. Lea grabbed him and shoved him against the wall.

 

“Who are you and how did you get in here?” he demanded.

 

“This doesn’t concern you!” the masked man against the wall said. “This is between me and Ventus!”

 

 _Right, Ventus,_ Lea reminded himself, not _Roxas…_

 

“What?! But I don’t know you!” Ventus said from the other side of the room.

 

“How can you not remember me?!” the masked man demanded.

 

“I don’t remember a lot of things!” Ventus yelled back.

 

“Of course you don’t, you **idiot** … _I_ seem to have forgotten how **stupid** you are.”

 

“That’s not very nice!” Ventus pouted.

 

“You’ve got ten seconds before I drop kick you out this window,” Lea told the masked man.

 

“Shut up, you stupid fire bug!” the masked man hissed. “Ventus is my other half! We belong together!”

 

“Well, Ventus, sounds like you have a psycho stalker ex-boyfriend you didn’t know about. I’ll dispose of him for you.”

 

“What?! It’s nothing like that!” the masked man said. “Ventus is _literally_ my other half! He’s my light!”

 

“Andddd out the window you go,” said Lea, opening the window and preparing to toss the man out.

 

“Wait!” Ventus cried, causing Lea to pause. “Don’t throw him out!”

 

“Ven, the guy is nuts,” Lea said, but he relaxed his grip.

 

“But he knew my name. What else do you know about me?” he asked the masked man.

 

“I’m not saying anything in front of ginger here,” the masked man hissed. Lea lit a flame in his hand and held it to the stranger’s throat.

 

“Answer him or get cooked.”

 

The masked man stayed silent.

 

“Do you think I won’t do it?” Lea laughed indignantly, bringing the flame closer. “I am an ex-member of a criminal organization. I have no problem burning you alive.”

 

“I have already given you the relevant information,” the masked man said, taking Lea’s threat seriously this time.

 

“How do you know Ventus?” Lea asked again in a deeper, more serious voice.

 

“I _told_ you,” the man said exasperatedly, “he’s my **_other half_**! We used to be _one person_. Until that old fart ripped me out of him.”

 

“That is the fakest story I’ve ever heard,” Lea snorted.

 

“Wait a sec…” Ventus put a hand to the side of his head. “That actually sounds familiar… You… You’re Vanitas!”

 

“About time, dumbass,” Vanitas scoffed. Lea reinforced his hold on him with a shove for the comment.

 

“Vanitas…” Ventus repeated, like he was still convincing himself he knew the name. “I… That’s right, you… _you tried to kill me!_ ” Suddenly Ventus was in panic mode, and that was enough for Lea to bring back his threat of flame.

 

“I didn’t try to kill you!” Vanitas immediately argued. “I mean, not really…”

 

“Well, I’m convinced,” Lea said sarcastically.

 

“It’s coming back to me…” Ventus said, still holding his head. “There were others… A girl named Aqua and a guy named Terra… You used Terra as bait to get to me…! Where are they?!”

 

“I don’t know where Terra is,” Vanitas said, “our Master wanted to use his body as a vessel, so he’s probably wherever our Master is.”

 

“ _Our_ Master?” Ventus said. “I don’t remember having a Master…”

 

“Of course _you_ don’t. When he ripped me out of you I got all the memories, since they were all filled with darkness, the bastard…”

 

“He doesn’t sound very nice…” Ventus said.

 

“He wasn’t,” Vanitas replied bitterly. “Be glad you don’t remember him. Anyway, I know where Aqua is-“

 

“Really?! Where?!” Ventus immediately perked up.

 

“Wandering around in the Realm of Darkness, looking for Terra I suspect,” Vanitas said with boredom. Lea tensed at the mention of the place, and Vanitas caught him. “What’s the matter, ginger, scared of a little darkness?”

 

“Of course not,” Lea said, “but I… can’t go to that place. Not yet, anyway…”

 

“Does it have to do with the 'criminal organization' you used to be part of?” Vanitas snorted.

 

“Yes,” Lea said.

 

“What? I thought you made that up to scare Vanitas earlier…” Ventus looked nervous. “Are you… dangerous…?”

 

“Naive and overly trusting as usual, Ventus,” Vanitas spat before Lea could respond.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before,” Lea talked over Vanitas. “I’ve been moving often so it’s harder for them to track me- that’s why I’ve been sleeping on the street. The less you know about The Organization the better. They brainwash their members and slowly rob them of their individuality… It took me a long time to break free of their hold, and I’ve been running ever since.”

 

“The Organization…” Ventus said. “Organization XIII.”

 

Lea looked like he’d been hit in the face.

 

“ _How do you know about it?!_ ” Lea was shocked.

 

“I… I don’t know.” Ventus looked just as puzzled. “The name just came to me…”

 

“Okay, something weird is _definitely_ going on,” Lea concluded, still pinning Vanitas to the wall. “It can’t be a coincidence that I looked familiar to you, my catch phrase sounded familiar to you, the fact that you look like Roxas’s older brother, and that you know about The Organization.”

 

“Will you take your filthy paws off me now?!” Vanitas complained rudely, reminding them that he was still there. Lea looked at Ventus.

 

“Your call, Ven,” he said.

 

“You can let him go,” Ventus nodded. “BUT he has to take that mask off so we can see his face.”

 

“I’d rather you throw me out the window,” Vanitas snarled.

 

“That can be arranged,” Lea shrugged, opening the window wider.

 

“ALRIGHT, FINE!” Vanitas gave in. Lea stopped pinning him to the wall and Vanitas slowly removed his mask, revealing spiky jet black hair and bright golden eyes. Immediately, Lea had him pinned back up against the wall, flame at his throat.

 

“ARRGH! WHAT THE FUCK?!” Vanitas complained loudly, but Lea’s eyes looked so dangerous that Ventus didn’t even dare to breathe.

 

“ _Are those your original eyes?!_ ” Lea demanded. “ _Have they always been gold?! Answer me!_ ”

 

“My original eyes were blue, you idiot!” Vanitas snarled back. “Didn’t you listen?! Ventus and I used to be the same person! But when I got ripped outta him, I developed _this_ abomination of a face. Happy?!”

 

After what seemed like forever, Lea finally put out his flame and let go of Vanitas, who slumped to the ground. Ventus burst into tears.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Lea immediately apologized, his whole demeanor changing. He took a step forward but Ventus stepped back, and something ached inside Lea’s chest.

 

“He may have no memories of our Master,” Vanitas said from the floor, a sadistic smile spreading over his face, “but his _heart_ remembers… **remembers the** **_violence_**.”

 

“Ventus, I’m so sorry,” Lea pleaded. “Look, I’ll leave, okay? I’ll never bother you again.”

 

“No, don’t go!” Ventus sniffed, wiping his face. “I’m okay, really! I… don’t know why I reacted like that…”

 

“Because you’re weak,” Vanitas yawned from the floor. “Always have been. If you weren’t, we’d still be one and the Master wouldn’t have beaten the piss outta us so much.”

 

“Your Master _beat_ you?!” Lea asked, looking just as shocked as when Ventus mentioned Organization XIII.

 

“Oh yeah.” Vanitas got up and walked toward Ventus, tears still glistening on the other man’s cheeks. “I can tell you where every scar is and how and when we got it. The large one right down the middle of your chest is from when-“

 

“ _STOP!_ ” Ventus screamed, clapping his hands over his ears. “ _I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!_ ”

 

“Okay, _you_ go wait in the kitchen!” Lea ordered, pointing to Ventus’s door.

 

“No way! It’s my body and I can do what I want with it!” Vanitas snapped.

 

“Not anymore it’s not!”

 

“Well, that’s not my fault! How is it fair that _I_ got ripped out and he’s _there_ in _my_ body?!”

 

“Take that up with your Master, not me.”

 

“Why did you care so much about my fucking eye color, anyway?!” Vanitas demanded.

 

“Because,” Lea explained, “in Organization XIII, the more brainwashed a person becomes, the more golden their eyes become. I’m sorry, I panicked when I saw you had gold eyes.”

 

“Your eyes are green,” Ventus said.

 

“I’m not brainwashed anymore,” Lea told him. “But trust me, my eyes were gold for a while. It was like I had a cloud of fog surrounding my brain. Like something was trying to push me out of my own head. It was pretty uncomfortable.”

 

“That sounds awful,” Ventus said, sadness in his voice. “How did you escape?”

 

“I’d… rather not talk about it,” Lea replied awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. “It’s still painful to remember…”

 

“Oh. I’m sorry…”

 

“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”

 

“What about the other members of Organization XIII?” Ventus asked.

 

“What about them?”

 

“Well, since you broke free of the brainwashing, shouldn’t you help the other members break free, too?”

 

Lea pursed his lips.

 

“That’s probably impossible,” Lea finally said.

 

“Probably? That means there’s still a chance,” Ventus replied.

 

“I don’t think I can free all the members, and frankly I just plain don’t want to,” Lea shrugged. “But… there _is_ one member I was planning to go back for. I just haven’t thought of a plan yet.”

 

“Great! I’ll help you!” Ventus offered, looking excited.

 

“You’ll do no such thing,” Vanitas finally spoke up, and Ventus’s face fell into a frown.

 

“You’re not the boss of me!” Ventus huffed.

 

“That place sounds like bad news, and if anything happens to you, it’ll happen to me, too,” Vanitas told him, “so I won’t let you.”

 

Before Ventus could argue back, Lea said, “Ven, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t even have a plan yet. And even once I do, it’s far too risky for anyone else to get involved.”

 

“But I _want_ to help you!” Ventus declared. “I can’t explain it but something inside me is telling me that I was _meant_ to help you…!”

 

“Ugh. Typical of a person whose heart is pure light,” Vanitas snorted. “If I hadn’t been ripped out of you, you wouldn’t be feeling that way.”

 

“Then I guess it’s good you were ripped out of me, _if_ that’s even actually true,” Ventus smirked at him.

 

It happened so fast that Lea didn’t even comprehend what had happened. One second Ventus was smirking at the dark man sitting on the ground, and the next, Vanitas had leapt up over the bed and slammed Ventus against the wall, holding him by his throat.

 

“ ** _Good…?_** ” he snarled, golden eyes flashing dangerously. “ ** _You think it was_ good _what that bastard did to me?! To_ us?!** _”_

 

Once Lea had registered what was happening, he threw a fire punch at Vanitas, forcing him to let go of Ventus and stumble back. He grabbed Vanitas’s arms and pinned them behind his back. Then he kicked his feet out from under him, forcing Vanitas to hit the ground.

 

“Somebody needs a time out,” Lea said, holding the struggling man down. “Ventus, you okay?”

 

“I’m fine,” Ventus replied, voice a little hoarse. He rubbed his neck, certain that a bruise was forming in the shape of Vanitas’s hand.

 

“Great. Find something I can use as rope to tie this guy up.”

 

“What? Why?” Ventus asked with concern as Vanitas burst into laughter.

 

“Go ahead, tie me up! Why don’t you gag me while you’re at it? Better yet, just set me on fucking fire and get it over with! You think it’s so _good_ that I’ve been ripped from your heart? Fine then! Kill me and I’ll never bother you again! HahahahAHAHAHAHA…!” Vanitas began to laugh hysterically, and both Lea and Ventus looked at each other with concern.

 

“Let him get it out of his system,” Lea said to Ventus before he could speak. Ventus nodded, but still looked down on Vanitas with concern. Lea was still holding him down as Vanitas’s laughter turned into sobs.

 

“Vanitas…” Ventus bent down and put a hand on his cheek, wiping away his tears. As soon as he touched his face, Vanitas quieted down.

 

“I’m sorry I said it was good that you were ripped out of me. I never meant to upset you,” Ventus apologized.

 

“I don’t need your pity,” Vanitas sniffed, but he was calm and despite his comment, he leaned into Ventus’s touch. Lea suddenly felt very awkward, like he was intruding on an intimate moment. Vanitas no longer seemed to be a threat, so Lea let go of him.

 

“It’s been a long night,” Ventus said, helping Vanitas up. He seemed much calmer now, especially under Ventus’s gentle touches. “Why don’t we all get some sleep and we can talk more in the morning?”

 

“Good idea,” Lea agreed.

 

“I wanna stay in here with Ventus,” Vanitas said immediately.

 

“Not a chance,” Lea growled. “You’ll sleep on the couch. I don’t mind sleeping on the floor.”

 

“No, no, it’s okay. I don’t want anyone to sleep on the floor,” Ventus quickly cut in. “Vanitas can sleep with me.”

 

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Lea laughed derisively. “ _Couch_.” Lea pointed at the door.

 

“If I can’t sleep in here then I’ll sleep on the damn floor!” Vanitas sneered. “I don’t want your stupid couch!” He slammed the door behind him as he left. Ventus gave Lea a reproachful look.

 

“What? You could _not_ have expected me to let that happen!” Lea huffed.

 

“When I touched Vanitas, I could feel what he was feeling,” Ventus said.

 

“What? That’s impossible,” Lea scratched the back of his neck.

 

“I know. I know it sounds impossible, but maybe… maybe Vanitas really _is_ my other half. When I touched him… I don’t know. I felt what he was feeling, and I didn’t want to let go. That must be why he wanted to sleep in here. To be close to me.”

 

“Well, not tonight. Not until I deem that he’s not a threat to you,” Lea told him.

 

“Alright, _Mom_ ,” Ventus joked, reminding Lea very strongly of Roxas. He chuckled and ruffled Ventus’s hair.

 

“Hey…!”

 

“Sorry,” Lea laughed, pulling his hand away. “You just… really remind me of him.”

 

“Of who?” Ventus asked.

 

“Roxas.”

 

Ventus fixed his hair.

 

“What about Vanitas though?”

 

“Sorry, I’ve never seen anyone who looked like him,” Lea said. “Though he does have those gold eyes… The eyes of all the Organization members. So maybe he’s connected in some way, too. Anyway, we’ll talk about all this in the morning. For now, just get some rest. I’ll be in the next room if you need me.”

 

Lea left Ventus’s room and looked around for Vanitas. It didn’t take long to find him curled up under the kitchen table.

 

 _Well, at least he’s where I can keep an eye on him_ , Lea thought with a yawn, flopping back down on the couch.

 

_What a strange chain of events…_


	3. Chapter III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea, Vanitas, and Ventus talk.

 

**_~~~_ **

**_In my dream I strangled you_ **

**_In the languid afternoon light_ **

**_I watched your throat, thin and twitching_ **

**_Through eyes brimming with tears_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

 

**AREN’T YOU… MISSING SOMETHING?**

 

 

 

 

Lea woke with a start, his heart racing. He couldn’t remember a time when he _didn’t_ dream of that voice.

 

After several minutes of trying to fall back asleep and failing, Lea got up. The sun was up so he probably would’ve woken up soon anyway. As he stretched, he noticed a dark lump curled up directly in front of Ventus’s bedroom door. It was Vanitas, his back towards Lea as he slept.Shrugging, Lea slumped into the kitchen and opened the fridge. The least he could do for Ventus for letting him stay here was cook breakfast. He took out half a dozen eggs, a stick of butter, a block of cheese, and a handful of spinach leaves. He cracked the eggs, added a chunk of butter and cheese, and ripped up the spinach. He lit the stove with his own fire and began to cook. It wasn’t long before the delicious smell of cooking food woke Vanitas. Stomach growling, he picked himself up off the floor and headed into the kitchen.

 

“‘Morning,” Lea greeted him. Vanitas grunted at him and put his head on the table.

 

“Not a morning person, huh?” Lea mused. Vanitas grunted louder into the table.

 

“So… you and Ventus, huh?” Lea said for lack of anything else to talk about while he cooked.

 

“What about us?” Vanitas growled.

 

“Well, you two seem to have… a _unique_ relationship.”

 

“Of course it’s unique. Have _you_ ever heard of a person who had their darkness ripped out of their heart?”

 

“Can’t say that I have,” Lea agreed, flipping the eggs in the pan. “So you used to be one person, and now you’re two…”

 

“Do you have a point to this conversation?!”

 

“Sorry. I’m just trying to make sense of it.”

 

Vanitas sat up, looking grumpy.

 

“Look, everyone has light and darkness in their hearts,” he explained. “My Master took it upon himself to rip the darkness from my- Ventus’s- heart, thinking it would make us stronger. A **stronger _tool_ ,** for _him_ …”

 

“I’m… sorry,” Lea said, dishing out a portion of the eggs onto a plate and setting it in front of Vanitas. Without pause, he grabbed a handful of egg and wolfed it down. He regretted it immediately, screeching and tearing up while fanning his mouth.

 

“You couldn’t even wait for me to get you a fork?” Lea scolded him. “You’re gonna burn your mouth if you don’t let it cool first. Have some patience.”

 

Vanitas glowered at him as Lea looked around for the silverware. Just as he found it and picked out a fork, Ventus emerged from his room.

 

“Mmmm~” he hummed, inhaling the smell of breakfast. “Axel’s cooking~”

 

Lea dropped the fork, frozen with shock.

 

“What… did you just say?”

 

“What?” Ventus said obliviously, sitting down next to Vanitas. “You made your famous Eggs ala Axel, right?”

 

“How would you know? Didn’t you just meet this guy?” Vanitas snorted. “And his name is Lea, not Axel.”

 

“Oh, whoops. I must’ve been thinking of someone else,” Ventus chuckled nervously. “So, how ‘bout those eggs, Lea? …Lea…?”

 

“Axel was the name I went by in Organization XIII.”

 

“What?” Ventus looked confused.

 

“And 'Eggs ala Axel' was what I made Roxas for breakfast on special days…”

 

“Who’s Roxas?” Vanitas cut in, a little rudely.

 

“He’s a kid who looks and sounds exactly like Ventus. I mistook him for Roxas when we first met. I’m assuming by the way you don’t know him that he’s not Ventus’s long lost little brother…”

 

“I- I mean, _we_ don’t have any siblings.”

 

“Something weird is _definitely_ going on,” Lea said, finally handing Vanitas a fork. He dished out another portion for Ventus and set it on the table, along with another fork in case he got the same idea as Vanitas and tried to eat it with his hands. “You’re the splitting image of Roxas, you unconsciously knew my Organization name AND the name of the breakfast I made specially for him… You _have_ to be connected to him somehow.”

 

“I think I would know if **_my light_** had a connection with _someone else_ ,” Vanitas spat jealously.

 

Once Lea put the rest of the eggs on a plate, grabbed a fork, and sat down, he said, “This can’t _just_ be a coincidence. You _have_ to be connected to Roxas in _some_ way.”

 

“ _I would know if he was!_ ” Vanitas snapped, jumping up and slamming the table. “I know _everything_ about Ventus! I would _feel_ it if there was someone else in there!”

 

“Okay, okay, calm down!” Lea urged. “I’m sorry, I won’t mention it again!”

 

Vanitas scowled at him but then sat back down and continued eating. After a few minutes of silence, Ventus finally said, “So… you know everything about me?”

 

“Yes,” Vanitas grunted.

 

“What color are my socks?”

 

“Blue.”

 

“What color is my underwear?”

 

“Inappropriate question, but grey.”

 

Ventus frowned. Vanitas wasn’t even looking at him. He wanted to stump him.

 

“What’s my favorite color?”

 

“Green.”

 

“Second favorite color?”

 

“Red.”

 

“My favorite cereal?”

 

“Those frosted wheat blocks.”

 

“And why are they my favorite?”

 

“Because you like to shred them.” Vanitas smirked at him. “There is nothing about you I don’t know.”

 

“If you two didn’t used to be the same person, that would be very creepy,” Lea commented.

 

“Shut it, ginger.”

 

“It’s still kind of creepy,” Ventus snickered, causing Vanitas to glare at him.

 

“Well, you’re the one who asked!” he snapped.

 

“Just because it’s creepy doesn’t mean it’s not also fascinating,” Ventus grinned. “I’m going to find something you don’t know, just you wait!”

 

“Good luck.”

 

“Okay… what’s my favorite animal?”

 

“Rabbits. Next.”

 

“My favorite type of weather!”

 

“Blue sky with big fluffy clouds. Next.”

 

Lea tuned them out as he ate, trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

 

“Ha! Finally, an answer you don’t know!”

 

Lea tuned back in as Vanitas snapped indignantly, “WHAT?!”

 

“My favorite ice cream flavor,” Ventus smirked at him. “It’s not peanut butter swirl.”

 

“Yes it is!” Vanitas seethed.

 

“Nope,” Ventus insisted. “It’s sea-salt.”

 

Lea choked on his eggs. Coughing, he jumped up and rushed to get something to drink.

 

“Lea, you okay?” Ventus asked with concern.

 

After Lea drank a full glass of water and calmed himself, he said, “Your… favorite flavor of ice cream… is sea-salt?”

 

“It’s peanut butter swirl!” Vanitas yelled, but Lea ignored him.

 

“Yeah. Why, do you like it, too?”

 

Lea sat back at the table.

 

“It’s my favorite,” Lea told him. “After a successful mission, me, Roxas, and a girl named Xion would meet at the clock tower and eat sea-salt ice cream together…”

 

“That doesn’t mean anything!” Vanitas snapped. “I don’t know _how_ you’re doing this, but somehow you’re projecting subliminal messages to Ventus about this Roxas kid!”

 

“Vanitas, I-“

 

“No!” Vanitas shouted, jumping up. “If Ventus was involved with someone else, _I would know!_ You think I don’t know what happens in my own body?!”

 

“But this isn’t _your_ body anymore!” Ventus snapped back, taking Lea by surprise. “It’s _mine!_ ”

 

For a horrifying moment, Lea thought Vanitas was about to attack Ventus again. He looked ready to murder. Instead, he ran into Ventus’s room and slammed the door behind him.

 

“Oh no,” Ventus covered his mouth with his hand. “I didn’t… I’ve upset him…”

 

“It was something he needed to hear,” Lea comforted Ventus. “You’re not wrong. You might have been the same person once but you’re not anymore, and that body is yours, not his. He has his own now, whether he likes it or not.”

 

“Do you really think I’m connected to your friend Roxas somehow?” Ventus asked.

 

“It seems very likely,” Lea nodded. “How long ago did you wake up from your ten year coma?”

 

“Almost two weeks ago,” Ventus answered. “Why?”

 

Lea suddenly had the sensation that he was falling; the room seemed to shrink in on him.

 

“Lea… you okay? Your face got really pale all of a sudden…”

 

“By 'almost two weeks,' do you mean thirteen days ago?”

 

“Yeah, that’s exactly how long,” Ventus answered him, sounding surprised. “How did you know that?”

 

“Because thirteen days ago was when Roxas died.”

 

Ventus’s mouth hung open.

 

“What… does this mean…?”

 

“I don’t know,” Lea admitted. “Probably the only people who might know are part of the very Organization I deserted… There’s no way I can go to them for answers.”

 

“Well… maybe you can,” Ventus said, stroking his chin as he thought. “You wanted to go back to save one of your friends anyway. Can you pretend to go back to them, get your answers, and then escape with your friend?”

 

“I wish it would be that easy,” Lea sighed. “I’ll have to really plan this out, especially so I can make sure that I’m not re-brainwashed.”

 

“Was Roxas’s death what snapped you out of it?” Ventus asked. Lea looked down.

 

“Yeah…” he sighed. “He snapped out of it when Xion was killed, and I didn’t believe him when it happened. I dismissed his fears and concerns, and then he got killed and it was like I woke up from a very long dream. I remembered I was Lea and I realized how awful everything we did was, and I just had to get out of there. So I ran away, and I’ve been hunted by the rest of the Organization ever since.”

 

Lea wiped away a tear he hadn’t known had fallen.

 

“If you really are connected to him somehow, then I just want him to know how _sorry_ I am… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect him- both him and Xion. They were both like my younger siblings, and I should’ve looked out for them better. I failed them…”

 

Ventus put a hand on Lea’s shoulder sympathetically.

 

“You can’t undo the past,” he said, “trust me, I wish I could. I’d go back and prevent Vanitas and I from being split. I think he’s in a lot of pain and it’s my fault. But we can’t go back to the past, so we can only look to the future. If you can save your friend from the Organization, I’m sure it will make Roxas and Xion happy.”

 

Lea smiled at him.

 

“Thanks, Ven…” he said. “You’re really good at pep talks. Maybe you should try talking to Vanitas now.”

 

“Yeah, I should apologize,” Ventus agreed. He got up and walked over to his own bedroom door and knocked on it.

 

“Vanitas, can we talk, please? Just you and me.”

 

There was no answer. After a minute of silence, Ventus knocked again.

 

“Vanitas? Please open up…! I’m sorry!”

 

Still no answer.

 

“Maybe he fell back asleep?” Ventus shrugged, looking back at Lea. Something long and thin snaked out from under the door, catching Lea’s eye. It coiled up, and then a full flower bloomed instantly.

 

“FUCK!” Lea yelled, jumping up and scaring Ventus out of his skin. “Ven, get away from there, now!”

 

Without question, Ventus followed the order. More stems were growing out of the crack of the door and blossoming flowers.

 

“What’s going on?!” Ventus whimpered, hiding behind Lea.

 

“We have a visitor,” Lea sighed, igniting his fists with flame. “Organization number XI: Marluxia.”


	4. Chapter IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea and Ventus hunt down Marluxia to save Vanitas!

~~~

**_I want to_ **

**_Jump into the core_ **

**_Beauty wrapped in pure blue light_ **

**_If I could_ **

**_Jump into the core_ **

**_I feel as if all would be forgiven_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

“Who’s Marluxia?” Ventus asked as it looked as though Lea was getting ready to burn down the bedroom door.

 

“Everyone in the Organization has a very unique talent,” Lea explained. “Marluxia can use waterbending to control plants, including making them grow by will.. Now s tay back, Ventus. If Marluxia is in there and he sees you, you’ll become a target, too. Don’t worry, I’ll get Vanitas back safely.”

 

Ventus nodded and hid behind the couch. Lea took a deep breath and fire-kicked open the door.

 

“Marluxia!”

 

The entire room was covered with flora, but there was no sign of Marluxia or Vanitas. Lea let a wave of fire swirl around the room, burning up all the plants but keeping the room unharmed.

 

“They’re not here,” Lea said to Ventus, exiting the room. “But Marluxia left a trail of greenery. He wanted me to follow him. Looks like I don’t have time for any kind of plan. I’ll just have to wing it.”

 

“Let me come with you,” Ventus pleaded.”You want answers about Roxas, right? Well, if I’m there, it’ll force them to explain.”

 

“Unfortunately, that _is_ a smart idea,” Lea sighed. “I just don’t want you getting hurt because of me. It’s bad enough I couldn’t protect Roxas…”

 

“I’ll be okay. I’m tougher than I look.” Ventus puffed up his chest. “Besides, I’m sure they can’t hold Vanitas forever. If I’m in danger, he’ll protect me. Like he said, anything that happens to me happens to him.”

 

***

 

“So, what exactly are you hoping to accomplish by kidnapping me?” Vanitas asked lazily as he was dragged behind the crazy man who had encased him in vines.

 

“Axel has a very strong sense of morality,” the man replied. “If someone he cares about is captured, he will come.”

 

“You think he cares about me?” Vanitas snorted. “I only just met the guy last night and he almost burned me. If anything, he’s probably glad I’m gone.”

 

“Be careful what you say,” the pink-haired man mused. “If you convince me that you are not valuable to me, you then become expendable.”

 

Vanitas laughed at that. “You actually think I care whether I live or die?”

 

The man stopped walking and turned, having the vines pull up Vanitas to look at him. Vanitas looked right back at him, crooked smile on his face.

 

“You have the Superior’s eyes,” the man stated. 

 

“So do you, apparently,” Vanitas snorted. The pink-haired man let the vines pull Vanitas back to the ground. 

 

“The Superior will certainly have an interest in you.”

 

“Well, must be my lucky _fuckin’_ day,” Vanitas laughed. The man’s hand twitched and vines wrapped around Vanitas’s face, preventing him from talking anymore.

 

“That is enough from you,” the man said. “We will be there soon. I am sure Axel cannot be far behind.”

 

***

 

“Everything packed?” Lea asked, and Ventus nodded. 

 

“Just stay close to me and do what I say, no matter what. If I say run, run and don’t look back. Understood?”

 

“Understood,” Ventus nodded. 

 

“Alright. Keep your hood up and don’t speak. The second they see or hear your resemblance to Roxas, you’ll be a target.”

 

“Right,” Ventus agreed, pulling his hood over his head.

 

“Also, don’t touch any plants. I’m going to burn them as we go, but just in case, make sure they don’t touch you.” 

 

True to his word, Lea burned the plants as they followed their trail. It led outside the city into a stretch of empty field.

 

“So, you said that everyone in The Organization has a unique talent,” Ventus asked to fill in the silence. “What’s _your_ unique talent?”

 

“I am fireproof,” Lea told him. “I can set myself on fire without burning myself or even my clothes. I can walk through lava, I can even lavabend, which is usually only an earthbender trait.And when I use my fire I can choose what it burns and what it doesn’t.”

 

Lea made a flame in his hand.

 

“Go ahead, touch it. I promise it won’t burn.”

 

Ventus looked nervous, but he trusted Lea so he carefully put his hand near the flame. Lea moved his hand so that Ventus’s was engulfed by it, and he yelped with fright but quickly looked awestruck.

 

“It’s warm, but it’s not burning me,” Ventus laughed. Lea continued burning the trail of plants.

 

“I hope Vanitas is okay…” Ventus sighed after a while. 

 

“What are your thoughts on that guy, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lea said, still burning up flora.

 

“Hm… I’m not really sure,” Ventus shrugged. “He’s… unstable. I think he just needs some help. And since we’re connected, I want to help him. I can’t remember too much from before I fell asleep. I remember fighting Vanitas though. He told me a lie about Terra to bait me into leaving…. wherever it was I was living at the time. Aqua followed me and kept trying to convince me to go home, but I was scared something was going to happen to Terra and no one was listening to me. I don’t remember much else, but I do remember fighting Vanitas. He wanted to fight me because it was supposed to _do_ something. Because his heart is pure darkness and mine is pure light. I don’t know what it was supposed to accomplish though. Next thing I knew, I was waking up and everything was… different.”

 

“Do you think he still wants to fight you?” Lea asked.

 

“I don’t… _think_ so…” Ventus tugged on his hood. “I mean, it _did_ seem like he had been searching for me, but he hasn’t said anything about fighting me since he got here. He just wanted to be near me. And when I touched his cheek and felt what he was feeling… he was just mostly scared and lonely. And remember how he said our Master used to beat us? I don’t have memories of that but he does, and I know he wasn’t lying because I have scars all over my body. I don’t think Vanitas is a bad person, but I think a lot of bad things have happened to him. I don’t want to be his enemy; I want to be his friend. Rescuing him will be the first step to getting him to trust me. I don’t think he trusts anybody right now…”

 

“I wonder why Marluxia even took him,” Lea sighed. “Maybe I shouldn’t have stayed with you… I never wanted to put other people in danger…”

 

“Even though you escaped, it seems like they were going to hunt you down for the rest of your life anyway,” Ventus told him. “Is that true escape, then? Maybe it’s good that this happened, so that you can help the other members snap out of _their_ brainwashing. You won’t really be free until there _is_ no Organization to hunt you.”

 

Lea groaned. That made sense, but he really hadn’t wanted to do that. There was only one member who was still living that he actually cared about.

 

“I was prepared to go back for one person, but not _everyone_ ,” Lea complained, kicking up flames with his feet. 

 

“What makes this person so special?” Ventus asked. Lea felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and that was saying something considering the amount of fire he was creating.

 

“He’s, uh… Well, before The Organization, we were… I mean, he used to be my best friend.”

 

“Lea, your face is all red~” Ventus teased him. “He was more than just your best friend, wasn’t he?”

 

“Alright, time for you to be quiet. We could run into Marluxia any minute now,” Lea snapped, not looking at him. 

 

“What, you won’t even tell me his name?”

 

“Shhh!”

 

Ventus pouted, but didn't say anything more. The foliage became thicker and thicker until they reached what seemed to be a dome made of vines.

 

"My guess is that he's in there," Lea motioned the sphere of plants.

 

"Yikes," Ventus said.

 

"Remember, no talking. In fact, you should probably just stay here," Lea told him. 

 

"Alright. Send Vanitas out as soon as you can."

 

Lea walked as close as he dared to the sphere and then burned a hole big enough for him to fit through. It was dark inside so Lea held a flame in his hand in order to see.

 

"Axel, you made it."

 

Marluxia was standing in the back, Vanitas encased in a cocoon of vines next to him.

 

"Let him go, Marluxia," Lea demanded. "It's me you want, and I'm here." 

 

"This man has the Superior's eyes. Why is that, Axel?"

 

"Lots of people have gold eyes," Lea shrugged, forcing himself to act casual. "Big whoop."

 

"Actually, lots of people do _not_ have gold eyes. They are quite unique." Marluxia talked with the air of a stuffy professor. "I think the Superior would be most interested in taking a closer look at this man.”

 

Axel threw a fire punch directly at Marluxia, who jumped back. Plants lunged at him, but they were easy to burn away. 

 

_Why did they send Marluxia?_ Axel wondered to himself. _They know I can just burn the plants..._

 

"Did you know," Marluxia suddenly said, "that when the petals of the Moon Shadow flower burn, they emit an odor that causes drowsiness?"

 

"What are you blabbering about?" Lea snorted, throwing more fire.

 

"I mean, it is no problem for me because I already took the antidote. You, however, have not, and have been burning them ever since you stepped foot in here."

 

"What are you-?" But the drowsiness hit Lea as though he had just suddenly just walked through an invisible wave of sleepiness. His vision blurred and his body became ten times its weight. He shot a fireball behind him as he fell, burning another hole in the plant dome. 

 

Outside, Ventus saw the hole burn and even though he was far away, he could still tell that Lea had fallen and he wasn't getting up.

 

"Lea!"

 

Ventus shot towards him, ignoring his previous orders not to go near the dome. Inside was a man with pink hair who Ventus assumed to be Marluxia. Vanitas was stuck to the plant dome wall, encased in vines except for his nose and his hair which were sticking out.

 

"Who are you?" Marluxia asked, but Ventus kept his mouth shut. He tried to shake Lea awake, but then a fog seemed to move into his brain.

 

_Oh no, am I being brainwashed?!_ Ventus panicked. His vision began to blur.

 

_No... I can't... pass out.... Must... save... Lea... and... Vanitas..._

 

But Ventus passed out, his hood falling down as he hit the ground. Marluxia's eyes widened at the sight.

 

"Impossible.... Roxas...?" 

 

Marluxia wrapped Lea and Roxas up in vines. He looked at all three of his prisoners.

 

"The Superior will be most surprised... and pleased.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's in the next chapterrrrrrr~~~~
> 
> (hint, their organization number is the same as the month we're in right now [at the posting of this chapter]!)
> 
> AkuSai day was a few days ago and I missed it bc I was helping my mom since she just moved, but I kept the couple close to my heart the entire day <3 Sorry I had nothing to contribute to it lol
> 
> Maybe I'll think of something special to do for the next one (8/7)......


	5. Chapter V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marluxia brings his hostages back to the castle. Lea is reunited with his jilted lover. Vanitas is reunited with someone he wished he'd never have to see again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? Another update? So soon?  
> Well, in honor of KHUX's Saix quests that I wasted 600 jewels on just to get to the Saix style one and not be able to beat without continuing so it looks like I'll never get it, HERE'S A CHAPTER WITH SOME SAIX PLOT! (also my beta/editor had yesterday off and honestly even I was surprised she got the chapter out so fast considering I just uploaded chapter IV two days ago)
> 
> SO HERE YA GO, ENJOY THE FEELS!
> 
> (also tw: self harm)
> 
> EDIT: I GOT SAIX STYLE!! SPECIAL THANKS TO MARLUXORD HERE ON AO3 AND NORTMARE ON TUMBLR FOR HELPING ME!!! Turns out you just really need to up your defense ^^ BUT I GOT IT IM SO HAPPY I CAN FINALLY REST

 

**_~~~_ **

**_On the other side of the veranda_ **

**_The sound of footsteps climbing the stairs_ **

**_The sky that started to cloud over_ **

**_Falls through my windowpane, into my room_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

Saix was pacing around his office and he didn’t know why. He shouldn’t be feeling anything at all, but somehow he was feeling something… unease? 

 

_Anxiety._

 

He pushed the word from his thoughts and tried to focus on the present. Marluxia was out on a mission. The mission that Demyx had failed. Demyx had always been a slacker, and where he failed, Marluxia was sure to succeed. He would bring Axel back here in one piece because that was what he was ordered to do. Saix had convinced the Superior that Axel was worth more alive than dead. 

 

_“You think you can reform Axel?” the Superior had asked._

 

_“Yes,” Saix had replied. “I believe I can bring him back to our side. I knew him best in our past life, so I believe I will be able to break him back into submission.”_

 

_“And this opinion is not clouded by any sort of emotions you may have towards him?”_

 

_“Certainly not, Lord Xemnas. I only think that he is much too valuable to our cause for us to just throw away.”_

 

_After several minutes of being looked over for any sign of emotion or give that might be a betrayal, the Superior seemed satisfied enough to say, “Very well. I will call off the hit and issue a retrieval instead. You have one chance, Saix. If he will not bend, his life will end. And so will yours. His failure is_ your _failure.”_

 

_“Understood, Lord Xemnas.”_

 

But when Saix had left the Superior’s chambers, he felt something cold in the pit of his stomach. Why _had_ he pleaded with the Superior to spare Axel’s life? He felt _nothing_ for him. Anything he _had_ felt had been extinguished the night Axel fled from the castle. The night he chose **those children** over _himself_. If the past meant nothing to Axel, then it meant nothing to Saix. He told himself this over and over until the pain became hollow and his eyes were a bright gold. The more golden his eyes became, the less he felt. He didn’t _want_ to feel. But he wanted Axel to. He wanted Axel to feel everything he wasn’t letting himself feel. Yes, that was why he wanted Axel back alive. Everything he made Saix feel, he would dish back tenfold. 

 

There was a knock on his door, snapping Saix out of his trance.

 

“Come in,” he said, sitting back in his chair behind his desk. 

 

A cold feeling washed through his chest as Marluxia appeared from behind the door.

 

“I have returned from the mission,” Marluxia said, no hint of emotion in his voice.

 

“And?” Saix said, urging him on.

 

“The mission was a success.” 

 

A weight dissipated from Saix’s stomach.

 

“Very good,” Saix nodded.

 

“There is something else you should know,” Marluxia began. “I detained two men who were with Axel. One has the Superior’s eyes, and the other… looks exactly like an older version of Roxas.”

 

“What?” Something hot and angry bubbled up in Saix’s gut as he stood up. “That’s impossible. Roxas is gone.”

 

“I was also surprised,” Marluxia shrugged. “That is why I brought him back here.”

 

“Take me to him,” Saix demanded.

 

“What about the other man?”

 

“Inform the Superior of his eyes, after you take me to Roxas.”

 

Marluxia led Saix down winding stairs into the dungeon of the castle. Once he was led to the room, he immediately went inside.

 

“He is still sleeping,” Marluxia told him, Saix barely registering the words. “He will be awake soon, though.”

 

“Very good. You are dismissed,” Saix told the other man. He closed the door behind him and walked up to the sleeping man.

 

This was impossible. Roxas was _dead_. He had watched the Superior himself do it. Not only that, but Roxas had merely been a shell of someone else. Was this the "someone else"…? But that couldn’t be possible, because the "someone else" would be the same age Roxas had been, and this man was clearly older. Saix hadn’t been given much information on the matter when Roxas arrived, just that he was the shell of someone else- someone _important_. 

 

The man who could have been Roxas’s older brother began to stir. There were shackles on his wrists and ankles, so he wouldn’t be going anywhere, and Saix wanted answers. He waited patiently for the man to wake up.

 

When he did, the man screamed, and he sounded _exactly_ like Roxas.

 

“Where am I?!” he demanded. “Who are you?!”

 

“I’ll be the one asking the questions,” Saix said calmly. “First, tell me who _you_ are.”

 

“I asked you first!” the Roxas look-alike snapped, pulling at his restraints. Saix formed a blade of sharp ice and held it to the man’s throat.

 

“You are in no position to ask anything of me,” he snarled in a quiet voice. 

 

“You’re a waterbender,” the man gulped.

 

“Perceptive.” Saix rolled his eyes. “Now answer my question. What is your name?”

 

The man swallowed, looking around the room for a split second before he said, “I’m Roxas.”

 

The ice knife melted into water, which coiled around “Roxas”’s neck, freezing again to form a tight icy collar.

 

“You are not Roxas,” Saix hissed dangerously. “Roxas was a lot younger than you, and he is deceased. Tell me your **real** name!” The ice collar shrank, and the man gasped.

 

"Ventus! My name is Ventus!" Ventus admitted, gasping for air. The ice melted and the water returned to Saix.

 

"Why did you lie to me?" Saix demanded.

 

"B-Because, I know I look like Roxas," Ventus panted. "I wanted to see what the big fuss was about."

 

"And what do _you_ know about Roxas?" Saix snarled.

 

"I know he was Lea's best friend, and now he's dead," Ventus told him. Saix's eyes widened.

 

"Lea? Did you say _Lea_?! _Lea_ said _Roxas_ was his best friend?!"

 

"Yeah. I guess you know him as Axel. Um... are you okay?"

 

Saix looked around and realized the room was beginning to form a film of ice. He took a deep breath to calm himself and the ice retracted. 

 

"You're in shackles and you're asking _me_ if I'm okay?" Saix snorted.

 

"Well, you looked upset when I talked about Lea..."

 

"Well, you must've been imagining things because I don't feel emotions like that," Saix stated.

 

"Okay, if you say so," Ventus shrugged. "So, uh... what are you going to do with me?"

 

"That's for the Superior to decide," Saix told him. "If you don't know anything else about Roxas, then I'll leave you to your fate."

 

"My 'fate'?" Ventus felt uneasy. "Hey, where are the other people Marluxia kidnapped along with me?"

 

"That is none of your concern," Saix stated. 

 

"Are you going to brainwash us?" Ventus asked.

 

"You ask a lot of questions." Saix was starting to feel annoyed. 

 

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you gave me some answers," Ventus pouted, and the look reminded him so much of Roxas that Saix could feel his ice starting to form again.

 

"Be careful," Saix taunted him. "The more you look like Roxas, the more you'll end up with his same fate." He left so he wouldn't have to look at Roxas anymore. He wondered if Axel was awake yet.

 

_Of course he's not. If he was, there would be panic in the halls. He's impossible to control, and his fire even more so._

 

***

 

"Impossible..."

 

Xemnas couldn't believe what he was seeing. When Marluxia had told him that he had captured a man with his eyes, he assumed Marluxia just found a man with gold eyes and freaked out. But these weren't just _any_ gold eyes. They were, without a doubt, _his_ eyes. 

 

"Leave me alone with him," he had ordered Marluxia, who obeyed without question. The man was already awake and still covered in Marluxia's vines, but his eyes had been exposed in order for Marluxia to show off their resemblance to the Superior's.

 

"You have our eyes," Xemnas said to the man, "yet you are not one of us. Who are you?"

 

"Get these vines off me and find out," the man sneered. Xemnas narrowed his eyes. 

 

"Quite the charmer, aren't you?" he said. "I guess we'll just have to take this up with old man himself."

 

"I don't like old men," the man in the vines spat. "Had a bad experience in the past with one. You bring anyone older than yourself in here and I'll let all hell break loose."

 

Xemnas smiled.

 

"Am I to assume that means you know a _certain_ old man with the same eyes as yourself?"

 

The tension in the air was palpable. 

 

"If that fucker is still alive and you bring him within a hundred feet of me, I will kill everyone in this entire damn facility," the tied up man snarled viciously. "Is this _his_ Organization?! I should have fuckin' known...!"

 

He began struggling with the vines. A dark portal opened and through it came the very person Xemnas had been talking about.

 

"So, it's true then," Xehanort said with a sadistic grin. "It's really you, Vanitas. I thought you had ceased to exist these past ten years."

 

It was as if a switch had been flipped. The vines burned away under black flames and left Vanitas standing, finally free. He wore an expression of pure hatred, and darkness dripped from his body, creating moving shadows of energy.  
  
"I guess my little experiment actually _did_ pay off," Xehanort grinned.

 

" ** _EXPERIMENT?!_** " Vanitas screamed. " ** _YOU CALL RIPPING ME OUT OF MY OWN FUCKING BODY TO LIVE A MISERABLE LIFE OF PAIN AND SUFFERING AN 'EXPERIMENT'?!_** "

 

"Absolutely," Xehanort said without missing a beat. 

 

The pools of darkness lunged at Xehanort, but he swatted them away like the power was nothing.

 

"Don't be a fool, Vanitas," he snarled. "Would you like scars that match your former body? Because I can arrange that easily."

 

"Like I give a fuck, old man!" Vanitas snarled.

 

"Then perhaps Ventus would like new scars to match yours."

 

The darkness stopped in its tracks and Xehanort's smile widened.

 

"I knew it. You've actually grown to care for him."

 

" **Back. Off,** " Vanitas warned.

 

"Sir," Xemnas finally spoke up. "Was he... _Is_ he...?"

 

"Shadowbending, yes," Xehanort answered him. "I created him for that purpose. The first Shadowbender."

 

"Yeah. I'm _real_ fuckin' special," Vanitas snorted darkly. 

 

"So, Vanitas, where _have_ you been for the past ten years?" Xehanort asked. 

 

"Why ask me if you already know?" Vanitas snarled. Xehanort smiled.

 

"Clever boy," he praised. 

 

"Where is Ventus?" Vanitas demanded. 

 

"He's safe," Xehanort assured him, "for now."

 

“And just what is _that_ supposed to mean?!” Vanitas snarled.

 

“Why ask me if you already know?”

 

Vanitas was less than pleased at having his own words turned against him. 

 

“So you’re going to use him to control me. I don’t know why I’m surprised considering ten years ago you used _me_ to control _him_.”

 

“With you back at my side as my apprentice, I think my plan for this Organization might actually work.” Xehanort smiled maliciously. 

 

“If I join you, you’ll leave Ventus alone?” Vanitas asked.

 

“Of course,” Xehanort assured him. “But cross me, and I will personally torture him in front of you.”

 

“Then I guess I have no choice,” Vanitas growled. “ I await your orders, _Master_.”

 

***

 

Lea’s entire body felt like it was made of sandbags. He didn’t want to open his eyes but something deep in his mind told him he had to, for some reason. When he could finally get them open, he saw a man in a black coat sitting in a chair against the wall, face hidden behind a book. Although his face was hidden, Lea would recognize that blue hair anywhere.

 

“Isa…” he sighed happily, his mind still groggy.

 

“My name is Saix,” the blue-haired man said, closing his book. Lea snapped back to reality instantly.

 

“Isa, what happened to your face…?!” 

 

Saix stood up and strode closer to the bed, a slight grin forming on his face.

 

“Do you like it?” he asked in a fake voice. “It’s a reminder that I am Saix, _not_ Isa, and I no longer have any ties to you.”

 

“Who did that to you?” Lea demanded, horrified and sickened. “Was it Xemnas? It was Xemnas, wasn’t it? I’ll kill him…!” Lea tried to get off the bed but he found he couldn’t move.

 

“Isa, let me go!” he demanded.

 

“My name is _Saix_!” Lea’s body was thrown against the wall, and then forced up against it. Saix walked over to him, his hand outstretched to keep in control of Lea’s body. In his other hand a blade of ice formed and he brought it directly in front of Lea’s face.

 

“Maybe I should carve an X on you, too, so you remember your place, _Axel_.” 

 

“I’m _Lea_ ,” Lea said, trying to struggle but Isa’s grip was too strong. “You can’t bloodbend me forever. Without a full moon, I know you have a limit. And when you let me go, I’ll burn down this entire goddamn castle and snap you back to your old self!”

 

“‘My old self’?” Saix laughed. “‘My old self’ is who carved this on my face, _Axel_. To remind me that there _is_ no going back! You made your choice and I made mine. If you continue to defy the Superior, you will be eliminated from this earth. As I told Roxas before _he_ was destroyed, we _don’t_ accept resignations.”

 

“I know you’re still in there, Isa,” Lea said. “I swear on Roxas’s and Xion’s deaths that I _will_ get you back. You engraved something on _your_ face, so I’ll do the same to mine if that will get you to believe me.”

 

“What are you…?”

 

Lea closed his eyes and concentrated. It took a lot of effort because of the bloodbending, but finally two tiny fires sprouted, one on each cheek.

 

“What the- How are you doing that?!” Saix demanded. “I have control of you! _And_ you’re fireproof!”

 

“My fire burns what I want it to burn,” Lea grunted in pain. 

 

“Stop that… Stop that at once!” Saix’s ice knife turned into water and was bent to splash over Lea’s face, putting the fires out. But the damage was done. Lea opened his wet eyes, a burn on each cheek in the shape of an upside-down tear drop.

 

“Why two?” Saix asked.

 

“One for Roxas, one for Xion,” Lea said. 

 

“Of course, it’s always about _them_ ,” Saix snarled.

 

“No, it’s about _you_!” Lea shouted at him. 

 

“Stop lying to me!” Saix reformed his ice blade and was about to lunge it right at Lea’s throat when the door opened. His head snapped around, a murderous look in his eyes.

 

“Calm down, Saix, or you’ll freeze the entire castle,” Xemnas said.

 

“I _am_ calm,” Saix hissed, retracting his hand with the blade. “What do you want? I’m in the process of breaking this fool.”

 

“We no longer need him,” Xemnas stated. Saix’s eyes widened.

 

“But, sir,” he began. “I thought-?”

 

“Our plans have changed,” Xemnas put up a hand to silence anything else Saix might say. “He will, however, be allowed to live, so long as he never sets foot in this castle again nor interferes with any of our future plans.”

 

“And what makes you think I’m going to accept those terms?” Lea asked hotly. 

 

“Because we have your Roxas look-alike friend and his shadow. You can take the look-alike with you, but his shadow stays. If one dies, so does the other, so you’ll stay out of our business or we kill the shadow, and thus, your friend, too.”

 

Lea grimaced. It was his fault Ventus and Vanitas had gotten mixed up in his drama. If he escaped with Ventus, they could think up a way to rescue Vanitas and Isa at a later date.

 

“Fine,” Lea spat. “You got me in a corner, bastard…” Saix didn’t look pleased.

 

“Are you sure, Lord Xemnas?” he asked. “I can break him. I can get him to become Axel again. I just need some more time.”

 

“Those are my orders, Number VII. It’s not your place to question them.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Saix nodded. He turned back to Lea, who was looking at him.

 

“Never let me see your treasonous face ever again,” he growled. Lea only stared back silently. Xemnas walked over and pulled out a syringe. 

 

“When you wake up, you and that brat will be back where Marluxia found you. Sleep tight.”

 

The last thing Lea saw before his vision went black was Isa’s face, marked with a large X, his golden eyes burning through Lea’s very soul.

 

 


	6. Chapter VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea tells Ventus his tragic past.
> 
> tw: self harm (about Lea's burns from the previous chapter and Saix's X)

 

~~~

**_The twilight scatters_ **

**_The sun is red as if from crying_ **

**_As if melting, bit by bit,_ **

**_Bit by bit, the world is dying_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

Ventus shook Lea, trying to wake him up. He’d been up for a while, but Lea had remained asleep. They must have drugged him more heavily. He had already tended to the blisters on Lea’s cheeks. They must have used some kind of acid to brand him or something, Ventus thought to himself when he first saw them. He cleaned the affected area with antiseptic and taped gauze over the burns. But Lea still hadn’t woken up and now Ventus was getting worried.

 

“Lea, please wake up,” Ventus whined, shaking his shoulder. Finally, it seemed he was stirring. His eyes slowly opened, and Ventus let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Finally. I thought you would never wake up!”

 

Lea squinted at Ventus before he promptly shot up from the couch yelling, “ _Isa_?!”

 

“…What?” Ventus said with confusion. “What’s 'isa'?”

 

“What? I…” Lea sat back down. He put a hand on his face and felt the gauze.

 

“What’s this on my face?” he asked, feeling both of his cheeks.

 

“Oh, you had a blister on each cheek, so I cleaned and bandaged your face,” Ventus told him. “Did they burn you with acid or something?”

 

“No,” Lea sighed, leaving his wounds alone. “It was fire.”

 

“What? But I thought you said you were fireproof…”

 

“I am,” Lea told him. “I did it to myself on purpose.”

 

Ventus looked as though Lea had just admitted to being an alien from another planet.

 

“Why the heck would you do that?” he asked, stunned. “Didn’t that hurt?!”

 

“Of course it did. Look, I don’t expect you to understand,” Lea sighed. “It was a symbolic gesture.”

 

“I understand the meaning of a symbolic gesture,” Ventus snorted. “I’m not stupid. But _why_ did you do it?”

 

“It was a promise. A promise to my friend that I’d come back for him.”

 

“And why did you have to make that promise permanently on your face?”

 

“Because… Because when I left, I think I really hurt him.” Lea looked at the ground. “When I saw him when Marluxia brought us to the castle, he had a large, thin X scarred across his face, and he told me he did it to _himself_ as a reminder that I had sided against him- which isn’t true, by the way.”

 

“Wait, scary blue-haired ice man is your friend?” Ventus asked with surprise.

 

“Yeah. You met him?” Lea seemed just as surprised.

 

“He was in my room when I woke up. He asked me who I was and told him I was Roxas since you made a big deal out of our resemblance and I wanted to see what kind of reaction I would get. He knew right away that I was lying, and he asked me what I knew about Roxas. He got really upset when I said he had been your best friend. Now it makes sense.”

 

“He got upset?” Lea asked.

 

“Yeah. He had a mean look in his eyes and the room began to ice over. I asked him if he was okay and he said I was imagining things because he didn’t feel emotions like that.”

 

Lea groaned and put his face in his hands.

 

“What happened between you two?” Ventus asked, sounding sad. “I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want…”

 

“He thinks I chose Roxas and Xion over him,” Lea told him. “When they joined the Organization, I took them under my wing, like a big brother. They were kids and they needed someone. I think Isa got jealous. We had a pact that he would rise up in the ranks and I would do the dirty work for him, and once he got to the top we could overthrow the Organization together and escape. But the higher up he got, the less time we spent with each other. We had to be careful, too, so no one would suspect anything. I became like a mindless drone, following orders and never questioning _why_.

 

"But then those kids came along and it was like the fire inside me ignited again. They made me _feel_ like somebody again. Isa kept warning me not to get close to them, and at first I was just a mentor. But they… were different. I guess it was because they were kids, and kids are just naturally curious and optimistic and… hopeful. Even when the truth about Xion came out, I couldn’t accept it. No matter what she really was, she was my friend. And Isa knew the whole time and didn’t tell me… all he said was not to get close to either of them. But I-“

 

“Wait, what do you mean 'what she really was'?” Ventus interrupted. Lea suddenly looked nervous.

 

“I don’t know if you’ll believe me if I tell you,” he said.

 

“I promise I’ll believe you,” Ventus urged.

 

“Well, there’s a member, number IV, Vexen, who is a scientist. I don’t know how he did it, but Xion was actually his experiment. She was a puppet infused with someone else’s memories.”

 

Ventus looked stunned.

 

“A puppet? That _is_ unbelievable. But if you say so, I believe you.”

 

“Thanks,” Lea nodded. “They let her join the Organization when she became sentient. She and Roxas were pretty much the same age so they hit it off immediately. We became a kind of trio. The only ones who knew what she really was were Vexen, Isa, and Xemnas.”

 

“Who’s Xemnas?”

 

“He’s the leader of the Organization and the first member. We all referred to him as the Superior. Isa became his right hand man. It was part of our plan together, but that, coupled with my growing friendship with the kids, forced a wedge between us. It’s not like I stopped loving him, but he… changed. Why are you looking at me like that?”

 

Ventus was wearing a very wide smile. “You said you _loved_ him~”

 

It took a second for Lea to register what Ventus was talking about, but when he did his entire face turned red.

 

“Fine. Yes, _I love him,_ but he… changed. He wasn’t _Isa_ anymore… He was Saix. And when Xion started malfunctioning, he treated her like an object. I know that’s why he told me not to get close to her, but still… He ignored Roxas’s and my feelings about Xion. I didn’t think he would, which is why I told Roxas not to worry. But then Xemnas had her… terminated.”

 

“Oh no. I’m so sorry,” Ventus consoled him.

 

“It broke him. Not just out of the brainwashing, but out of his _mind_ … He tried to take on Xemnas himself, and…” Lea shook his head. “He did it right in front of me. And Saix was there, standing next to Xemnas, watching. The fog lifted from me, and when I looked in Isa’s eyes, it wasn’t him I saw. I burst into flames and ran. No one dared stop me, lest they get turned to ash. Isa must have thought that was me choosing the kids over him. But it wasn’t like that. I saw how the Organization was changing him- changing everyone, including me. I ran to keep the truth alive in my head, so I could make a plan to come back and save Isa from that _hell_. The real Isa would understand… but that was Saix, not Isa.”

 

“Wow. Lea, I’m so sorry all that happened,” Ventus said, patting his shoulder. “I promise I’ll help you get Isa back any way I can.”

 

“Thank you… I really appreciate it,” Lea told him. “I wish you didn’t have to get involved in all this.”

 

“Well, I kind of have to now anyway. They let us go but they kept Vanitas, and we need to get him back. I know he didn’t seem like the greatest person while he was here, but we’re connected and… I _want_ him back.”

 

“I’m sorry,” Lea groaned, putting his face in his hands again. “This is all my fault…”

 

“It’s not your fault,” Ventus assured him. “ _You_ didn’t kidnap Vanitas. They did. And we’ll get him back, just like we’ll get Isa back, too.”

 

“You’re so optimistic.” Lea looked up at him with a grin. “You really do remind me so much of Roxas.”

 

“We’ll get answers about that, too, I’m sure,” Ventus nodded.

 

“I just… don’t know what to do now,” Lea sighed.

 

“I might have an idea,” Ventus admitted.

 

“Really? What?” Lea asked enthusiastically.

 

“Well, before I got drugged again, Vanitas came to my room. He was being watched by someone, so he bent down like he was kissing my cheek, but whispered in my ear, 'find Sora'. And then I got stuck with a needle and next thing I knew I woke up here.”

 

“‘Find Sora’?” Lea said thoughtfully. “Hm. I’m guessing Sora is a person because I can’t think of any reason why he would tell you to find the _sky_.”

 

“Well, it’s all I’ve got to go on.”

 

“It’s better than what I have, which is nothing.”

 

“Okay then! We’ll get packing and then start our search for Sora!”

 

“Just a small problem,” Lea said, breaking Ventus out of his determined fantasy. “We don’t know where Sora could be or what he or she even looks like. And there’s probably more than one Sora.”

 

Ventus seemed to deflate at that.

 

“I guess maybe we’ll just _know_ when we see them,” Ventus shrugged. “They must be someone powerful. Vanitas wouldn’t just send me on a wild goose chase for a random person. This person has to be a person of power or a great master of some kind.”

 

“Alright, that’s a good place to start,” Lea agreed. “We’ll look into Masters and people in high political ranks and see if anyone is named Sora.”

 

***

 

Somewhere on a far-off island, a boy with brown spiky hair and blues eyes was waking up to discover that his best friend was missing.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUESS WHO'S IN THE NEXT CHAPTERRRRRR


	7. Chapter VII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riku ran away, so naturally Sora followed. Or at least, he tried to. 
> 
> Vanitas gets trained, and by trained I mean Xehanort beats the shit out of him (which happens in the BBS novel btw I'm not doing this for fun, Vanitas is my bby).
> 
> So yeah, tw: abuse

 

~~~

**_In my dream I strangled you_ **

**_As the curtains fluttered in the spring breeze_ **

**_The words spilling from your dried-out, worn-out lips_ **

**_Were like foam_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

“I don’t… understand.”

 

Sora couldn’t believe what he was seeing. When he woke up, Riku’s bed was empty except for a note that said, “Goodbye, Sora. Don’t look for me. -R.”

 

“Like I’m gonna listen to that!” Sora snorted derisively. The first thing he did was tell his master, Master Yen Sid. Both he and Riku had been living at his castle, studying airbending under him. Sora couldn’t think of a single reason why Riku would run away. It was completely out of the blue.

 

“Master Yen Sid!” Sora barged into his Master’s office without warning.

 

“Sora, what did we say about knocking before entering?” Sora’s Master was going through a stack of paperwork. He hadn’t even looked up when Sora burst into his office.

 

“Sorry, but this is important! Riku ran away!”

 

His master looked up, his face inscrutable.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Sora showed his Master the note. He watched his Master’s eyes follow the words on the piece of paper, and then he sighed and sat back in his chair.

 

“You mustn’t follow him, Sora,” Yen Sid finally said.

 

“Do you know where he went?”

 

“No, but I think I know why.”

 

“Why?!”

 

Yen Sid gave Sora a solemn look.

 

“I cannot tell you yet. But it is imperative that you stay here and continue your training.”

 

Sora’s look was so heartbreaking that it was hard for Yen Sid to keep his composure.

 

“You’ll meet with Riku again one day, don’t worry. The two of you are connected. He will find his way back once he gets… everything out of his system.”

 

“That raised more questions than it answered!” Sora shouted.

 

“I know you are upset but I cannot stress the importance of you mastering airbending enough. Please do not go looking for Riku.”

 

“Why is it more important for me to learn than Riku?” Sora demanded. “Shouldn’t it be just as important? I shouldn’t train without him! I… don’t _want_ to!” Sora turned to run; he was going to run and run and find Riku and bring him back and no Master in the entire _world_ was going to stop him-!

 

“It’s important for you specifically because _you are the avatar!_ ”

 

Sora froze in his tracks. He turned back to look wide-eyed at his Master.

 

“I’m… I’m the avatar…?”

 

Yen Sid folded his hands. “We were waiting to tell you on your sixteenth birthday, but you left me with no choice. You cannot leave until you master airbending.”

 

Sora’s insides felt hot and cold at the same time. _Him?!_ The _avatar?!_ That couldn’t _possibly_ be right… Riku, although he’d never admit to his best friend’s face, was a _lot_ stronger than he was. If anyone should be the next avatar, it was Riku…

 

“Is that why Riku ran away?” Sora demanded, his voice choking up. “He found out I’m the avatar and now he hates me…”

 

“Sora, that’s not it at all!” Yen Sid tried to assure him.

 

“How would you know?! You don’t know what Riku thinks!” Sora yelled.

 

“Neither do you.”

 

“Well, why else would he run away and tell me not to find him?!” Tears leaked down his cheeks. He was so overwhelmed by the shock of finding out he was the avatar that he wasn’t thinking clearly. He wiped his face and said, “I’m sorry, Master. I have to find him.”

 

“Sora! Sora, wait!” But Sora was gone, and Yen Sid knew he wouldn’t be able to stop him if he tried.

 

“Damn… I really thought that would work. Well, he’ll find out the truth soon enough…”

 

***

 

Sora stopped by his room only to grab his glider and a backpack he filled with some supplies. Then he was off, flying away on his glider. After ten minutes he landed back on the ground.

 

 _I have no idea where Riku went,_ he admitted to himself. _I could be going in the complete opposite direction for all I know…_

 

Sora sat down in a meditative position. If he focused on Riku’s energy, maybe he’d know which direction to fly in.

 

***

 

“Ventus, you okay?”

 

Lea stopped walking. Ventus had suddenly turned pale and sluggish.

 

“I feel…. weird…”

 

Ventus also stopped walking, putting his hand to his forehead. He felt as though something was trying to enter his head, something… _foreign_.

 

_Riku…. where are you…?_

 

Ventus lost control of his body and Lea caught him as he fell.

 

_Who said that?_

 

_What? Who is this?_

 

_I asked you first!_

 

_My name is Sora. I’m looking for my friend, Riku. Who are you?_

 

_Really? You’re Sora?_

 

_That’s what I just said, isn't it? Who are you? Are you a spirit?_

 

_No, I’m Ventus. How are you talking to me inside my head?_

 

_Am I in your head? That’s weird…_

 

_You said you were Sora, right? My friend asked me to find you. Do you know someone named Vanitas?_

 

_Vanitas? Sorry… no. I don’t know why your friend asked you to find me…_

 

_He’s been kidnapped by a group called Organization XIII and he told me to find “Sora”. He must have a reason why he needs you. Please, can you help us?_

 

_I’m sorry, but I’m busy looking for my friend Riku._

 

_Maybe they’re connected. Please, my friend and I went on a search to find you. You’re our only hope. I’m sure we can help you find your friend, too._

 

_Well, I guess I don’t really have any leads as to where Riku is… Okay, let’s join up!_

 

_Great! Where are you?_

 

_I just left the Mysterious Tower, home of the great Master Yen Sid. Do you know where the Destiny Islands are?_

 

_No, but my friend might._

 

_Meet me at Destiny Islands, the small island. By the shore there’s a large treehouse. That’s where I’ll be._

 

_Alright. Thank you, Sora…_

 

***

 

When Ventus woke up, he was laying on the ground, Lea’s jacket under his head as a pillow. He groaned and sat up, and heard Lea give a sigh of relief.

 

“You really scared me there,” Lea said. “Here, drink some water.”

 

Ventus gratefully accepted the drink, and then told Lea, “I talked to Sora.”

 

“What?” Lea laughed. “You must still be hazy from passing out.”

 

“No, I really spoke to him. In my head.”

 

“Okay, Ventus.”

 

“You don’t believe me!”

 

“Of course I believe you!” Lea said in a fake voice. Ventus pouted.

 

“Do you know where Destiny Islands is?”

 

“No, but I’ve heard of that place. It’s airbender territory.”

 

“That’s where Sora said he would be, on the small island by the shore where’s there’s a giant treehouse.”

 

“Ventus, I think you were just dreaming when you passed out,” Lea told him, like he was scolding a child.

 

“Well, do _you_ have any other leads?!”

 

“No, but don’t you think searching for powerful people named Sora is more reliable than a dream you had?”

 

“I don’t care! I know it wasn’t a dream! I’m going to Destiny Islands and you can either follow me or not!” Ventus stood up, but quickly almost passed out again.

 

“Whoa there!” Lea quickly put his arms under him to support him. “Okay, we’ll go to Destiny Islands! Jeez, you are _so_ much like Roxas…”

 

“Thanks…” Ventus murmured, letting Lea lay him back down.

 

“You just rest for now. We’ll head into town when you’re feeling better and get directions to Destiny Islands.”

 

Ventus nodded and then closed his eyes.

 

_I really hope this Sora kid can help us…_

 

***

 

“Just like old times, eh, Vanitas?”

 

The remark came right before Vanitas was bashed in the side by a large boulder, bent by Xehanort. Vanitas had the wind knocked out of him but he forced himself to stay conscious.

 

“Come on, you can do better than that, can’t you?” Xehanort launched another large chunk of earth at his disciple. Vanitas tried to feel it with his senses. The best he could do was put up a weak shield made of darkness before the boulder hit, cushioning the blow. He knew he wasn’t going to last much longer, but the second he gave up he would be beaten until he passed out. That was how it had always worked. Back when he was Ventus, and then even when he was ripped out of his body. More so after he was ripped out of his body, because then he was just seen as a creature. It was easier to beat a creature half to death than a human child, although Vanitas was sure Xehanort had no remorse for beating a child; but any restraints he might have had were lifted once Vanitas was ripped from his body.

 

**_“Empty creature from Ventus riven… to you, the name Vanitas shall be given.”_ **

 

Those words rang in his ears, the first words he ever heard as Vanitas. Maybe he was empty once, but not anymore. Now he was filled with darkness and emotion and _purpose_.

 

Vanitas got back up, using all his might to stop the next boulder in its tracks. As soon as his power touched it, it turned into earth of darkness.

 

“Excellent!” Xehanort laughed. “Everything you touch turns to darkness!”

 

Vanitas bent the dark boulder at his Master who no longer had control over it. Of course, Xehanort was quick to dodge, shooting smaller rocks at his apprentice. Vanitas caught them with his shadows.

 

“Good, good. You’re getting the hang of it.”

 

“The hang of what, exactly?” Vanitas growled.

 

“Shadowbending, of course. It’s not _just_ about controlling darkness. You can _use_ that darkness to control the other elements! You already used dark-firebending and now you are using dark-earthbending.”

 

“So, what, am I some kind of _dark avatar_ or something?”

 

“I wouldn’t call it that. The avatar is a reincarnation fused with the light spirit, Raava. You are just a creature made of darkness.”

 

“I’m _more_ than a creature made of darkness!”

 

Dark flames burst from Vanitas’s feet, the ground melting into moving shadow.

 

“ _Incredible!_ Dark lavabending…!”

 

Vanitas guided the dark lava towards his Master. One day he might actually succeed in killing him, but at the moment no matter how hard he struck, he could barely even _touch_ his Master. His Master’s old age was an illusion, because his strength knew no bounds. He diverted the black lava with large slabs of earth and then struck Vanitas from behind with another rock. This time it hit him, and Vanitas went down for good.

 

“Get up!” Xehanort commanded, but Vanitas could barely hear him. His ears were ringing and his vision was fogged.

 

“Pathetic… done already? I’ve barely started!” Vanitas was pelted with rocks, each one like a bullet to his body. He was beaten, why couldn’t his Master just leave him alone to recover? Vanitas let his body melt into the shadows.

 

“Running away, are we? We’re not done here yet, boy!” Xehanort snarled. “If you run from this, you’ll be punished!”

 

 _You have a punishment worse than being beaten to death?_ was what Vanitas wanted to yell back, but he couldn’t because his body had transformed into pure shadow. He slunk away to find a cool, dark place for his physical body to heal.

 

“I think Vanitas needs to relearn his place,” Xehanort growled to his underling, Xemnas. “Send number XII. She likes to play with her food before she eats it.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise you, shadowbending is important! I didn't just make it up so that Vanitas would have a cool avatar-like power. It'll make more sense in the second part of this series.
> 
> Also sorry it took so long to put out a new chapter. My beta and I REALLY got into Undertale suddenly and it's like all we talk about now but it doesn't mean I'm not still completely KH trash. Because I am still totally KH trash lol


	8. Chapter VIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise Larxene!
> 
> Also Saix hates how much Ventus resembles Roxas. Flashback warning!
> 
> Also it seems Vanitas didn't learn his lesson.
> 
> tw: blood, death, self harm, and abuse

 

~~~

**_I want to_ **

**_Jump into the core_ **

**_My memories would melt into brilliant whiteness and disappear_ **

**_If I could_ **

**_Jump into the core_ **

**_I feel like I’d be able to sleep again like I used to_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

**I WANT TO BE WHOLE AGAIN!**

 

Lea was trapped, the darkness all around him. A pair of golden eyes bored into his.

 

**I WANT TO BE WHOLE AGAIN! TAKE ME BACK TO HIM!**

 

“To whom?!” Lea managed to asked.

 

**TO THE ONE I WAS RIPPED FROM!**

 

“I don’t know who that is!”

 

**LIAR! HE KEEPS RIPPING HIMSELF UP AND STICKING HIMSELF INTO OTHERS… AND I ENDED UP HERE WITH YOU!**

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

 

**BRING ME BACK TO HIM! I WANT TO BE WHOLE AGAIN!**

 

“Who ARE you?!” This was the most he’d ever gotten to talk to the voice in his dreams.

 

**I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE… BUT IF I GO BACK TO HIM I’LL KNOW. TAKE ME BACK TO HIM!**

 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t bring you to a person if you don’t tell me who that person is.”

 

**THEN SUFFER!!!**

 

 

 

Lea woke with a gasp. He was soaked with sweat even though it was pretty cold outside and the only thing keeping himself and Ventus warm was the fire he lit. As he tried to make sense of his dream, he felt a weird disturbance in the air. It was a familiar _dark_ energy.

 

_Why would an Organization member be here after Xemnas said we’d be left alone?_ Lea thought, carefully crawling closer to Ventus in case he needed to protect him. _Unless…_

 

The dark presence got closer and Lea heard something rustle in the bushes.

 

“Isa?! Is that you?!” Lea shouted to the darkness, startling Ventus out of sleep.

 

“ _Wrong!_ ”

 

There was only one person with that feminine voice, and Lea had just enough time to grab Ventus and pull him away before a visible electric charge zapped the place where he had been sleeping.

 

“Lea! What’s going on?!” Ventus cried, still confused from having just woken up.

 

“We have a visitor. A nasty one,” Lea told him, jumping up. “Stay behind me and whatever happens, _don’t get hit by the lightning._ ”

 

Lea threw fire punches that extended into the forest beyond their sight. More bolts of lightning shot at him, but Lea deflected them with fire. Deflecting lightning wasn’t too hard for him since he was firebender, but if Ventus got hit…

 

“What are you doing here, Larxene?!” Lea demanded, making sure to track where the lightning was coming from.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” a female voice laughed, and a bolt of lightning zapped straight at him. Lea deflected it and turned to make sure Ventus was safe.

 

“Xemnas said he wasn’t going to hunt me anymore!” Lea shouted, throwing more fire.

 

“Oh, I’m not here for _you_ ,” Larxene sang, “I’m here for the brat!”

 

Lightning shot directly at Ventus, and Lea didn’t know how Larxene had gotten behind them so quickly. Lea threw himself over Ventus, shielding him just in time, but there wasn’t enough time to deflect the bolt. Lea’s entire body buzzed, like he was getting stung by a thousand bees at the same time. 

 

“Lea!” Ventus yelled, looking up to see Lea’s face screwed up in pain.

 

“I’m-m f-fin-ne,” he stuttered through clenched teeth.

 

Ventus narrowed his eyes with determination and rolled out from under Lea. Standing up, he yelled, “Leave me alone, lady! I didn’t do anything!”

 

Out of the shadows stepped a girl with slicked back blonde hair and a long black coat. There was a twinkle in her golden eyes as she sneered at Ventus.

 

“I know you didn’t,” she grinned, “but if the **shadow** won’t _play_ , then the _light_ will **pay**.”

 

Lightning sparked all around.

 

“Ventus, no-!” Lea grunted, but he was unable to move. No… if Ventus was struck…

 

Suddenly a gust of wind flared up and Larxene was knocked back into the forest. Lea’s eyes widened.

 

“Ventus, did you do that?” he asked, trying to stand up. Ventus looked down at his hands.

 

“I… I’m an airbender…!” Ventus said with surprise. “I just remembered…! I must have forgotten during my ten year sleep…”

 

Larxene emerged from the forest holding her side.

 

“Hmph. No one told me you were an airbender,” she hissed. “I didn’t sign up for _this_ kind of mission!” She reached out her hand and a dark portal sprang up.

 

“Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me!” she snarled. “I’ll be back once I’m healed… and I hold a grudge like it’s nobody’s business!” As soon as she left, Ventus ducked down to check on Lea.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked, helping his friend up.

 

“I’ll be fine,” Lea grunted. “I haven’t been hit with lightning so directly like that in a long time…”

 

“Thank you for protecting me,” Ventus added. “And what do you think she meant by, 'If the shadow won’t play, the light will pay'?”

 

“I think they’re using you to control Vanitas,” Lea told him, sitting upright on a log they had found for their camp. “He must have refused to do something, so they sent Larxene to hurt you to punish him.”

 

“So Vanitas cares that much if I get hurt?” Ventus said, more to himself than to Lea. He looked starry-eyed.

 

“I hate to burst your bubble there, but I’m pretty sure whatever happens to you, Vanitas can feel, too. So threatening you is basically threatening him.”

 

Ventus’s starry eyes faded. “Oh, right…” he said. “Right, he even told us, 'whatever happens to you happens to me'. Do you think something will happen to me if something happens to him?”

 

“How would I know?” Lea shrugged. “Then again, Vanitas came from you, so it makes sense that he can feel what happens to you. Vanitas is you but you aren’t Vanitas. You understand what I mean?”

 

“Yeah, I think so,” Ventus nodded. He put his hand over his heart and closed his eyes.

 

“I hope Vanitas is okay…"

 

***

 

"What are you doing back so soon?!" Saix hissed as Larxene limped through a dark portal.

 

"Insufficient information, _your highness_ ,” Larxene hissed back in an extremely foul mood. 

 

"What are you talking about?

 

"The Roxas-looking brat can AIRBEND. He threw me into a tree and I cracked some ribs. I'm going to the infirmary." She skulked off, and Saix felt confused. Apparently Ventus could airbend... That was also new information for himself. He wondered, could _Roxas_ airbend? Not to _his_ knowledge.

 

Something hot and angry bubbled up inside him. It was bad enough that Axel had chosen Roxas over him, but now he was with _Ventus_ , and Ventus was a consenting adult. If he had gotten _that_ attached to Roxas, then Saix had no doubt that something could happen between him and Ventus. Maybe there _was_ still a little piece of Isa left inside him… and that part of him wanted Ventus and Lea as far away from each other as possible.

 

~~~

 

_“WHAT DID YOU DO TO XION?!” Roxas screamed, bursting into the Grey Room where the Superior and Saix had been talking. Axel was right behind the boy, trying to get him to calm down._

 

_“Roxas, Xion is FINE,” Axel huffed for hundredth time._

 

_“BULLSHIT!” Roxas screamed. “I can_ feel _it! Something’s wrong! What happened to her?!”_

 

_“How dare you talk to the Superior that way?!” Saix hissed, but Xemnas held out a hand to silence him._

 

_“I guess now is as good a time as any to tell him,” Xemnas said. “Xion, or Experiment No. i, has malfunctioned and been put out of commission.”_

 

_“What do you mean 'Experiment'?!” Roxas demanded._

 

_“What do you mean you put her out of commission?!” Axel demanded. Roxas turned to him._

 

_“Axel… did you… did you_ know _about this already?!”_

 

_“If you're asking if he knew Xion was just an experiment, then the answer is yes,” Saix said, and Axel glared at him. Roxas looked hurt._

 

_“I can’t believe this…” he said, tears filling his eyes. “Axel, I thought you were my friend!”_

 

_“Of course we’re friends!” Axel insisted. “I didn’t tell you because I was protecting you.”_

 

_“How can you be friends with something that isn’t real?!” Saix interrupted rudely._

 

_“They’re real to me, Saix, so shut up!” Axel snapped at him._

 

_“If you did_ anything _to Xion, then I quit! I’m outta here!” Roxas yelled with fury._

 

_“We don’t accept resignations,” Saix said._

 

_“Xion has been disposed of,” Xemnas informed him. “It was a failed experiment of Vexen’s. It may have been sentient for a little while, but then it failed so I had it disposed of.”_

 

_“Excuse me?!” Axel yelled. “Were you just not going to tell anyone about this?! She was our friend!”_

 

_“You are talking about an inanimate object,” Saix told him. “I told you not to get attached to it. The same goes for this shell.” Saix pointed at Roxas._

 

_“I am NOT a shell!” Roxas shouted, and his eyes turned from gold to blue instantly. “I am Roxas and you killed Xion, my best friend!”_

 

_He lunged at Saix and the Superior and Axel yelled, “Roxas, don’t!”_

 

_In seconds, Xemnas had bent numerous stones to keep Roxas in place._

 

_“You seem to have outlived your usefulness, too,” Xemnas shrugged._

 

_“Let him go!” Axel demanded, and he tried to step forward but he suddenly couldn’t move. His eyes turned to Saix, whose hand was outstretched. “Saix, wh- let go of me…!”_

 

_“Keep him there, number VII,” Xemnas said, “and make sure he can’t hear what I’m about to say.” He then turned back to Roxas being held up by the stones around his neck. Saix obeyed, using his other hand to bend water to surround Axel’s ears, drowning out all sound but rushing water._

 

_“When you go back to where you came from, relay this message through Sora. Tell him the avatar must join our side or we will take everything that’s precious to him and_ destroy _them. Especially the one he cherishes most.”And then Xemnas bent the two large statues in the room over and crushed Roxas between them._

 

_“ROXAS!” Axel screamed as blood spurted everywhere, and then whatever had been fogging over Axel’s mind dissipated and he remembered who he_ really _was._

 

_Lea let the anger and grief consume him and his body turned into flame. Saix could no longer hold him and, once free, he_ ran _._

 

_“AXEL!” Saix yelled, and he made to run after him but Xemnas grabbed his arm._

 

_“He’s made his choice,” Xemnas said, and Saix felt something… weird inside him._

 

_“He…. he chose them, over me…”_

 

_The room was spinning. He wanted to laugh and cry and scream at the same time._

 

_“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Xemnas said, and Saix clutched at his chest. “I told you he would be unfaithful. He chose a puppet and a shell over you.”_

 

_Something inside Saix’s mind was closing down on him. The tie he had to the past was gone._ **_I can make the pain go away. Just let me in deeper, Isa._ **

 

_He gave in, and found himself carving a giant X on his face with a sharp piece of ice he was bending._

 

_“That’s right. I’d never betray you like that, Saix. I’m the only one you can trust. You believe me now, right?”_

 

_Saix nodded, feeling sweet emptiness fill him up as the blood ran down his face._

 

_“I am your faithful servant, Lord Xemnas.”_

 

***

 

While Lea spent the day resting after having taken a full shock of Larxene’s lightning, Ventus happily ran around testing out his newfound powers. It was mostly just him yelling, “Lea, look!” and then blasting some air in different directions. Lea humored him- after all, he _had_ been in a coma for ten years so he still had the mentality of a kid. It really _was_ like being with Roxas again. But Lea had to keep reminding himself _he isn’t Roxas, he’s Ventus._ It would be disrespectful to see Ventus as some kind of _replacement_. 

 

But it was hard _not_ to. How did Ventus know things only Roxas could know? He knew about The Organization, knew his name used to be Axel, _knew about the special breakfast he made just for Roxas_ …

 

Something weird was going on and someone had to know what. That someone was probably involved in The Organization. 

 

Wait…

 

If Isa- _no,_ if _Saix_ had known about Xion… 

 

_“Don’t get close to them.”_ The words rang in his ears. _“They’re not what they appear to be. Don’t mistake a fake friendship for a real one.”_

 

Lea almost jumped up, but his insides were still frazzled.

 

Saix knew. _He had known the whole time about Xion, so he must know about Roxas’s connection to Ventus._

 

But it wasn’t like they could just march back into The Organization’s headquarters and demand answers…

 

No. They’d have to find this “Sora” person first. Vanitas must have had a reason for telling Ventus to find him. And like Vanitas had said before, if something was going on with Ventus, _he would know_. So if he wanted them to find “Sora”, Sora must be the connection in this tangled mess. 

 

They would find Sora and they would get answers; Lea was sure of it.

 

***

 

“I’ve been told that Ventus has remembered how to airbend,” Xehanort told Vanitas after barging into the space designated as Vanitas’s “room”. 

 

“What are you yelling at _me_ for?!” Vanitas complained loudly, having been woken up from a healing nap. 

 

“Have you been in contact with him?” Xehanort demanded.

 

“How the hell could I do that? You have someone watching me 24/7,” Vanitas growled.

 

Xehanort was in no mood to play around. He strode over and grabbed Vanitas by the neck, squeezing the breath from his throat.

 

“Did you or did you not tell him about Sora?!” Xehanort hissed, feeling the boy writhing under his grasp.

 

“H-H-How?” Vanitas managed to splutter. He weakly tried to claw at his Master’s hands but it was no use. The light was fading from his already tired eyes. Xehanort let go just before he knew Vanitas would lose consciousness and let the boy choke and gasp for air.

 

“You were allowed to say goodbye to him and that was it,” Xehanort went on as if he hadn’t almost just killed the man in front of him. “Xemnas said you kissed him on the cheek but didn’t say anything. That was a lie, wasn’t it?” Xehanort grabbed the collar of Vanitas’s suit and dragged him from the bed, Vanitas still trying to breathe properly again. 

 

“I think you need a reminder of what happens when you try sneaky little tricks like that on me.”

 

“Master, _please_ …” Vanitas choked out a sob, knowing things were about to get a lot worse. “I didn’t… I didn’t do…”

 

“Save your breath,” Xehanort commanded, dragging the creature of darkness down the hall. “You should be _glad_ for this opportunity to become _stronger_.”

 

Xehanort’s laughter echoed down the hall, catching Xemnas’s ears. He knew he would have to go make an announcement that that hall was closed off until further notice.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT??? ANOTHER UPDATE AFTER JUST A DAY???
> 
> My beta-er has the whole week off and she surprised me with another chapter! 
> 
> I'd better hurry with more chapters of the sequel or she's gonna catch up too quickly!
> 
> Poor Vanitas :( I'm so sorry bby
> 
> The next chapter is basically all drama, mostly from Saix and Lea, so get hyped for that! Gettin' to the good stuff!!!
> 
> Thank you for reading my fic btw I'm really glad people like it ;w;


	9. Chapter IX

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea and Ventus get a surprise visit (again).  
> Saix goes berserk(tm) :D  
> Vanitas gets tortured (nothing new there).
> 
> tw: blood, violence, abuse, emetophobia (I feel like I should tw this since I am irl extremely emetophobic but when it's in writing (or in a cartoon) I'm perfectly fine with it but I've read other fics with this as a tw so putting this in here just in case).

 

**~~~**

**_The second hand on a clock_ **

**_A TV host_ **

**_Someone there I just can’t see_ **

**_Their laughter echoes as it swells_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

**Help me HELP ME _HELPMEOHGODPLEASEHELPME HE’SKILLINGME IMGONNADIE ICAN’T TAKEIT KILLMEALREADY STOPIT PLEASE ICAN’T GO ON IWANTTODIE I WANT TO DIE ahahahAHAHAHAHAHA_**

 

**_K I L LM E_ **

 

 

Ventus woke up to see a terrified Lea looking down on him. He tried to ask what was wrong but he found that he couldn’t speak because he was already giving heaving sobs. His lungs hurt and his chest hurt and his throat ached and he scrambled to sit up as he felt his stomach lurch painfully and he vomited into his lap, which was covered by Lea’s coat that he had been using as a blanket. He was shaking and sweating and more scared than he had ever felt in his entire life (that he could remember) and he knew something was wrong but he didn’t know _what_.

 

“H-Help-p m-me,” he cried to no one- to _anyone_ , and as soon as he did he felt someone pull him back. There was a chest against his back, a face in his hair, and hands clasping his own.

 

“Listen to my voice.” It was Lea, talking in a soothing tone. “Feel my heartbeat against your back. You’re safe. You’re here with me and I won’t let anything happen to you. Just breathe.”

 

Ventus took deep, calming breaths, focusing on Lea’s warmth and touch and his _realness_ , bringing him back to reality.

 

It took about fifteen minutes for Ventus to calm down. He was still sniffling but Lea could feel that his heart rate and breathing had gone back to normal.

 

“Ven,” Lea finally asked, still in his low, soothing voice, “are you feeling better now?”

 

“Yeah. Thanks…” Ventus sniffed tiredly. “I don’t know… I don’t know what was wrong.”

 

“I think you had a night terror,” Lea told him, still keeping him close. “Maybe you had a dream about something from your past.”

 

“I don’t know…” Ventus replied, feeling sleepy again. “I’m sorry about your jacket…”

 

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll just burn the vomit out and it will be good as new.”

 

“Right. I forgot you could do stuff like that.” Ventus gave a little chuckle and Lea knew he’d be okay.

 

“Hold your nose. Burning vomit is going to smell nasty.” Ventus held his breath as Lea burned it away, leaving his coat just as it was before.

 

“Lea, this is going to sound childish, but… Can you keep holding me until I fall back asleep? I’m still kind of scared…”

 

“Of course, buddy, of course.”

 

“Thanks,” Ventus yawned, leaning back against Lea’s chest. Somehow it felt… _right_. Like a child being comforted by a parent.

 

But that was not how Saix saw it at all.

 

Lea had been too busy comforting Ventus to notice the familiar dark energy in the air, and Saix knew that Lea should have been able to feel it when he arrived. But it seemed he was too busy holding _him_ to notice anything like that.

 

He watched them for what seemed like hours before Lea gently moved Ventus to sleep on his own. And then as soon as Ventus was laid down, Lea perked up and looked around to stare exactly where Saix had been hiding in the darkness of the forest. He looked back at Ventus and then got up, heading toward where Saix was standing. Saix saw flame surround the camp they had made- probably to keep Ventus safe while he was away. As soon as Lea got to the edge of the forest, Saix turned and fled in deeper.

 

“Isa!”

 

He could feel Lea following him, which was exactly what he wanted. He ran and ran until he came to the edge of the forest that led to a beach, glowing in the moonlight. Saix stopped in front of the water and turned to face Lea, who had followed him the whole way.

 

“What are you doing here, Isa?” Lea asked, catching his breath. Two weeks out of The Organization was causing him to become out of shape.

 

“My name is _Saix_ ,” Saix hissed, and the ocean began to slink forward to pool around him.

 

“Fine, _Saix_ ,” Lea grunted, feeling that a fight was imminent. “I know you knew what Xion was when she first showed up. So you must’ve known what Roxas really was, too. I know Roxas and Ventus are connected somehow, I just don’t know _how_. But you do. And you’re going to tell me.”

 

“Oh? Am I?” Saix laughed as the water behind him kept building up. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be asking questions.”

 

“Why did you come here?” Lea demanded. “Was it just to pick a fight?”

 

“You and Ventus seem very close,” Saix went on, ignoring Lea. “You’re already sleeping together.”

 

“Whatever that looked like to you wasn’t what was happening,” Lea snarled. “Ventus was screaming in his sleep. He had some kind of night terror and I was comforting him.”

 

“He looks just like Roxas,” Saix continued, as if Lea hadn’t said anything. Lea noticed his eyes were beginning to glow a golden yellow, and the X-shaped scar on his face looked like it was ripping back open. “An older version of Roxas. I’m sure you can barely control yourself around him.”

 

Flames erupted in discs around both of Lea’s hands.

 

“If you are even _slightly_ implying that I feel anything more than a brotherly, parent-like bond for Roxas and/or Ventus, we are about to have a _serious fucking problem_.”

 

Saix laughed- a very scary laugh that Lea had never heard before. His voice sounded almost… _distorted_.

 

“ **Don’t _lie_ to me!** ” Saix yelled, the ocean forming a wave to hover over him. “ **You left me for his shell and the puppet, and now you have the _real thing_! You made your choice!** ” The water crashed down over Lea, and Lea set his body on fire to evaporate it, leaving only salt crystals behind.

 

“I don’t know why you keep insisting that there was a _choice_!” Lea shouted at him. “I took them under my wing because they were kids! You’re the only one who thinks that was me choosing them over you!”

 

Ice spiked up on the beach that Lea ignored.

 

“ **LIAR!** ” Saix roared, using the ocean as ammo aimed at Lea, who burned it away. “ **I’VE SEEN THE WAY YOU LOOK AT HIM! I KNOW HOW YOU LOOKED AT ROXAS! YOU SPENT YOUR TIME WITH FAKE FRIENDS AND LEFT ME IN THE SHADOWS!** ”

 

Saix reached out and Lea knew what that meant. He let the blood in his body boil. Saix looked frustrated.

 

“I know you can’t bloodbend me if my blood is boiling!” Lea laughed. “Don’t even try!”

 

Saix clenched his fist in anger and rose up on a wave from the sea. Ice shot like bullets and Lea was forced to dodge. He had flames roll over his arms to bat away any ice, but the impact still stung.

 

“Isa, I _never_ chose the kids over you!” Lea yelled. “I-!”

 

“ ** _DO_ NOT _CALL ME_ ISA _!”_** Saix screamed. “ ** _I AM SAIX! S-A-I-X! ISA IS DEAD!”_**

 

Saix shot over to where Lea was, riding his ocean wave. Lea was ready, flames engulfing him. But right before the inevitable clash, a strong force knocked both of them backwards. When Lea sat up he saw Ventus standing between him and where Saix had been coming from.

 

“Why are you fighting?!” Ventus yelled at both of them. “Can’t you see you both feel the same way about each other?! There’s nothing to fight about!”

 

“Ven, get out of here!” Lea urged. “You’ll make it worse!”

 

Ventus ignored him and turned to Saix, who was still getting up.

 

“Saix… Isa, why are you so jealous? There’s nothing to be jealous of. Lea has only ever thought of yo- !?!?!!?!”

 

Before Ventus could finish his speech, Saix reached out and took control of his body. Ventus couldn’t move or speak.

 

“LET HIM GO!” Lea yelled, jumping up. Saix still had that wild look in his glowing yellow eyes. The X on his face had ripped open and blood was dripping down his face.

 

“ ** _CHOOSE!_** ” Saix roared, gripping the blood in Ventus’s throat. Ventus’s face was turning blue. If Lea didn’t do something quick, Ventus would die. Saix wanted him to choose? Fine.

 

Lea ran forward and tackled Saix to the ground. Ventus was thrown sideways, but Saix’s grip on him had broken and he could breathe again. He laid back in the sand, letting the blood circulate back to his head. He had such painful vertigo that he couldn’t get up so he just laid there and breathed, hoping Lea and Saix could work things out.

 

When Lea had crashed into Saix, breaking his hold on Ventus, he pinned him down into the sand and before Saix could react, he crashed their lips together. He hoped it was enough of a shock to jog something inside of Saix.

 

_Isa… I know you’re still in there somewhere… Please come back to me…_

 

He moved his lips against Saix’s but got no response. He opened his eyes and saw gold ones looking back at him, but it seemed the kiss _had_ shocked Saix and he didn’t seem to know how to react. At least his eyes weren’t glowing anymore. Lea pulled away, just a little.

 

“You’re bleeding,” Lea whispered. Saix slowly raised his hand to his forehead and felt his wound.

 

“How… did I get this?” he said, shocking Lea.

 

“Isa, is that you?”

 

“Yeah… Lea, what’s going on?” Isa asked. “It’s so hard to think… What happened to me…?”

 

Lea was so relieved, so grateful, that he ignored the fact that Isa’s eyes were still gold.

 

“You’re gonna be okay. I’m going to help you. I’m just so, so glad-!”

 

“Lea, is everything okay?”

 

Ventus had gotten up and walked over when he saw that Saix and Lea weren’t moving.

 

“Huh?” said Isa, “who’s….?” But then something snapped back in his eyes, and he shoved Lea off him.

 

“ ** _ROXAS!_** ” Saix lunged at him but Lea tackled him back to the ground.

 

“Ven, get back to the camp!” Lea ordered.

 

“ ** _I can’t believe you kept Roxas alive all this time!_** ” Saix screamed, and Lea was alarmed that tears were sliding down his cheeks.

 

“That’s not Roxas!” Lea assured the squirming man under him. “Ven, _go back to the camp._ That’s an order!”

 

Frightened by the weird power over his body that Saix had demonstrated earlier, Ventus obeyed and ran back to their campsite which was surrounded by flames that wouldn’t burn him.

 

“ ** _Why did you choose that shell over me?!_** ” Saix screamed, his face half-buried in sand.

 

“I didn’t!” Lea pleaded. “Isa, _listen to me-!_ ”

 

“ ** _I’m not Isa, I’m Saix!_** ” Saix screamed. “ ** _I’m Saix I’m Saix IM SAIX IM SAIX IMSAIXIMSAIXIMSAIX-!_** ”

 

Lea flipped his friend back over and grabbed his face.

 

“ _You are Isa_ ,” Lea said. “You keep telling me that the past meant nothing to me, but it seems I’m the only one who remembers it. The Organization _changed_ us, and those kids brought me back to myself. You see it as betrayal but I saw it as freedom. And you’re still locked up and I am going to do everything in my power to set you free. It’s you and me forever. That has never changed. But you’re too clouded by The Organization’s brainwashing that you can’t see that. Do you even understand what I’m telling you?!”

 

It did look like there was some understanding behind the golden eyes. Lea took Saix’s stunned silence as an opportunity and bent down to kiss him again. He ignored the sand on his lips and pushed them closer. He could feel Isa’s breath. He could feel his life, still inside, lost and begging for help.

 

“Isa…” Lea whispered against his lips.

 

“Lea…” Isa whispered back. “Help me.”

 

And then a giant ocean wave that Lea had not been prepared for crashed over them. He coughed and choked, breathing in sea water and unable to open his eyes in the salty, sandy water. There was nothing he could do except let the wave throw him around like a rag doll until finally it receded, leaving Lea coughing up water and looking around for someone who wasn’t there.

 

***

 

Back at the camp, Ventus was pacing around anxiously. He hoped Lea was okay and that he and Saix/Isa were working things out, but more importantly to him, he was trying to keep himself busy because every so often, he could see and feel _exactly_ what was happening to Vanitas. As soon as Lea had left, the visions had come back. He had woken instantly and knew exactly what he was experiencing. He didn’t know what to do about it, but Vanitas had to be rescued. He could feel a burn in his side that wasn’t there. He could _feel_ blood running down his neck that wasn’t actually on his neck. By the time Lea returned to the camp, Ventus was curled up on the ground sobbing.

 

“Stop it! Master, please!” he screamed, and Lea ran over to comfort Ventus, though very confused. When Ventus turned his head, Lea almost jumped back in shock.

 

His eyes were golden, just like Vanitas’s.

 

That lasted barely a few seconds before they turned blue again, and Lea bent down to raise up Ventus’s head.

 

“T-They’re torturing h-him, Lea,” Ventus sobbed. “W-We have t-to r-rescue h-him.”

 

“I know, buddy.” Lea pulled him into a hug. “I know.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My beta surprised me with ANOTHER chapter done omg. A week of vacation has done her well.
> 
> A lot of stuff gets explained in the next chapter! I don't know when it will be out since my beta goes back to work... but if she keeps pumping these chapters out soon she'll catch up so I need to hurry and write more of the sequel before she catches up aaahhhhh @___@ lol
> 
> Thank you for reading! I'm so glad people are actually reading this >///<


	10. Chapter X

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They find Sora and some things get explained (sort of...?)
> 
> tw: abuse, blood, kind of graphic description of what Vanitas is enduring... (poor Vanitas... I'm so sorry.... my bby....)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to post this yesterday in celebration of the Axel event in KHUX but long story short it didn't happen lol
> 
> Also, help with Axel event is greatly appreciated. I'm stuck on the Martial Monkey (part VII) which looks suspiciously like the Pokemon Infernape.......
> 
> The Axel B medal is really good so I really want to try to gilt it (and of course I HAVE to get Axel style lol) so tips and stuff will be GREATLY appreciated.

 

 

**_~~~_ **

**_Allegro Agitate_ **

**_The ringing in my ears won’t fade, won’t stop_ **

**_Allegro Agitate_ **

**_The ringing in my ears won’t fade, won’t stop_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

Ventus couldn’t sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt Vanitas’s pain. He saw Vanitas’s broken, bloody body and he saw an old man with gold eyes laugh and strike at him. Lea decided that if Ventus couldn’t sleep, they should at least keep walking to make their way into town, since if Ventus was up pacing, Lea wouldn’t be able to rest either. Someone in town would know where the Destiny Islands were.

 

The sun was just beginning to rise when they spotted a sign that read “Ferry to Destiny Islands” with an arrow pointing towards the beach.

 

“Well, that was lucky,” Lea said to Ventus. Ventus looked absolutely miserable. The combination of no sleep plus the ghost of Vanitas’s pain was causing him to act grumpy. Lea forgave Ventus’s attitude because he knew how miserable he must be. His feet probably ached from all the walking, too, whereas Lea was used to walking long distances back when he was part of The Organization.

 

“If you’re tired, I can carry you on my back,” Lea offered as they began walking in the direction the sign pointed in.

 

“I’m not a child,” Ventus grumbled. Lea realized that they hadn’t eaten in quite a while either.

 

“Here, eat this,” Lea said, taking a power bar out of his bag and handing it to his friend. Ventus accepted it in silence and chewed slowly.

 

“We’ll be there soon, don’t worry,” Lea assured him.

 

“And then what?” Ventus asked derisively.

 

“And then we find Sora, just like Vanitas wanted.”

 

Ventus was silent after that, and Lea couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing.

 

***

 

“Hm.”

 

Xehanort looked over the mass of darkness mixed with the red of blood. “You used to heal faster than this.”

 

 _That’s because I’m ten years out of shape, you fucker,_ Vanitas wanted snort at the old geezer, but currently he was unable to open his jaw without passing out from the pain.

 

“You know, your eyes began turning blue when I was beating you,” Xehanort told him, and Vanitas’s eyes flickered. “I think you and Ventus were bouncing between each other. Imagine how much pain he must have felt!”

 

Vanitas thought he couldn’t hate Xehanort any more than he already did, but here he was being proven wrong.

 

“You once hated that boy. You wanted to kill him. You were _going_ to kill him. What happened?”

 

 _You know what happened,_ Vanitas thought bitterly, and Xehanort could read it through his eyes.

 

“Ah, yes. _Sora_ happened. He let the two of you sleep inside his heart. He mended your relationship with your other half. And he doesn’t even know he did it!”

 

Xehanort bent down and grabbed Vanitas’s bruised and bloodied face.

 

“You’d better _hope_ you didn’t say a word about Sora to Ventus, because if I find out they’re meeting up, I’ll get rid of Sora and end all of this myself.”

 

 _You did this to us…! To_ me…!

 

Vanitas wished more than anything to be strong enough to kill Xehanort. But even more than that, he just wanted to be with Ventus again. He wanted the pain to end.

 

If Ventus could find Sora… It was their only hope.

 

***

 

“And where, exactly, have you been?”

 

The Superior was waiting in Saix’s chair when he got back to his office.

 

“Why does it matter?” Saix asked neutrally. Xemnas got up and put a finger to the bandage over Saix’s face.

 

“You went to see him.”

 

Saix said nothing. His face ached and he had bandaged his X back up as best he could while still being able to breathe and see.

 

“Why don’t you let Zexion heal that for you?” Xemnas asked.

 

“I want it to hurt,” Saix replied.

 

“Right. It’s a reminder that he is a traitor to our cause. But you’re not, right, Saix?”

 

“Of course not, Lord Xemnas.”

 

“Good. Don’t visit him again. That’s an order.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Xemnas watched as Saix sat back in his chair and sifted through paper work.

 

“New missions?” he asked without looking up.

 

“Yes. Special missions.”

 

Saix looked through the folder describing the new missions and his eyes widened.

 

“Are you sure about this?” he said with concern, looking at Xemnas.

 

“Yes, 100%,” Xemnas replied with a small smile. “If we are to find Kingdom Hearts, first we need the avatar to join us. The message should have been relayed through Roxas after he was destroyed. I’m sure the avatar is already on his way. These missions will keep him in check once he arrives.”

 

“Of course, Lord Xemnas,” Saix replied, shuffling the papers. “I’ll hand out the missions right away.”

 

Xemnas sat on Saix’s desk and ran a hand through silky blue hair. Saix froze.

 

“Don’t forget whose side you’re on,” he said, leaning closer. Saix could barely breathe. “Or I could always give you a little reminder~”

 

He tapped the bandaged X and then got up and left, leaving Saix feeling like he needed another shower to scrub everything away.

 

***

 

Sora had been waiting in his treehouse for over a day. He had slept there, and now that he was waking up and there was no sign of anyone, he was beginning to doubt anyone was coming.

 

 _Maybe I really_ was _talking to a spirit, and they played a trick on me!_ Sora thought with annoyance. That would be just like a spirit, playing a nasty trick like that on a human!

 

Sora groaned and stood up, his limbs aching from sleeping on the floor of his treehouse.

 

_Riku… why did you run away? Where are you now?_

 

Sora’s stomach began to rumble, so he decided to go searching for something to eat. There were all kinds of fruit on the island, so it wouldn’t be hard.

 

_But what if that Ventus person arrives and I’m not here?_

 

That was a chance he would have to take, because Sora could endure a lot of things but hunger wasn’t one of them.

 

_I’ll be fast._

 

He grabbed his glider and jumped from the treehouse to find something to eat.

 

***

 

“Ven… Ven, wake up, we’re here!”

 

Ventus opened his eyes. He must have drifted off because he didn’t remember closing his eyes. Luckily his visions of Vanitas had stopped.

 

“I really didn’t want to wake you since you were finally asleep, but we’ve docked.”

 

Ventus turned and looked sleepily at Lea.

 

“’sthanks…” he slurred, yawning.

 

They had docked on the big island and would have to walk to the small one. Then they’d have to walk along the entire coast and search for a treehouse. Lea still had his doubts, but if this made Ventus feel better, he’d do it.

 

“I wonder what Sora looks like…” Ventus yawned as they began their walk to the bridge connecting the two islands. “In my head he sounded like a kid. I still don’t know why Vanitas wanted me to find him…”

 

“Maybe we’ll know when we meet him,” Lea shrugged.

 

It took at least an hour but finally they found a treehouse on the shore.

 

“That’s gotta be it!” Ventus shouted excitedly. He suddenly shot over to it, leaving Lea well behind.

 

“Ven, hey! Wait!” Lea complained, racing after him.

 

But Ventus was too excited. So excited, in fact, that he used his newfound airbending skills to propel himself up off the ground and into the treehouse, no ladder needed.

 

“Sora?!” he called out, but no one was there. He looked out the window and saw Lea running to the trunk of the tree where wooden steps were nailed into the side. Ventus bent the air around him to get from the window to the roof, but no one was up there either. Ventus sucked in a deep breath and then yelled with all his might, “SOOOOOOOORRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA?!”

 

There was no response. Ventus sat down, still on the roof, disappointment washing over him like someone had just dumped a bucket of ice cold water over his head. Lea was right. His mind had played a trick on him when he had been woozy and he and Lea had come all this way for nothing and Vanitas was laying broken and bleeding somewhere far away and there was nothing he could do. By the time Lea had managed to maneuver himself from the window to the roof (good ol’ training from being in The Organization!), Ventus had his head in his hands, his back to Lea. He was shaking with small sobs. Lea strode over and sat down next to him.

 

“You were right,” Ventus sniffed. “This was useless. I wasted our time. I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be like that,” Lea frowned, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “This was our only lead. It’s not like we had anywhere else better to search. Besides, it wasn’t all for nothing. I mean, there really _is_ a treehouse on the beach of the small island of Destiny Islands. That counts for something.”

 

“That could’ve just been something the past me knew,” Ventus wiped his face. “I wish I was a firebender so I could burn this stupid place away…!”

 

“It’s not good to think like that,” Lea scolded him. “Fire isn’t just destruction. It’s warmth and protection.”

 

“Hey, who’s up here?!”

 

Someone flew up onto the roof. “This is private property, ya know!”

 

Through Ventus’s teary eyes, he almost thought it was Vanitas. But then he blinked and it definitely _wasn’t_ Vanitas, though the kid did shockingly look a lot like him.

 

And then Ventus knew who he was.

 

“Are you Sora?” he asked, and the grumpy kid looked taken aback.

 

“Yeah, who are you?”

 

“I’m Ventus! We spoke… in our minds?” Saying it out loud made it sound crazy, but Sora accepted it right away.

 

“Oh. Okay then. Well, why are you on the roof? Come back into the treehouse!” And before Ventus could answer Sora had jumped off the roof and through the window. Ventus and Lea quickly followed. There was now a mound of fruit in the middle of the room, and Lea noted an airbender staff propped against the wall.

 

“Are you an airbender?” he asked, pointing to the object in question. “I see your staff.”

 

“Yep,” the boy replied, taking a bite out of an apple. “Help yourself to some fruit. I just gathered a whole bunch!”

 

“I’m an airbender, too!” Ventus exclaimed happily. “I mean, I only just remembered how to airbend, because I was asleep for ten years-“

 

Sora spat out his apple.

 

“You were asleep for _ten years_?!”

 

“Yeah. And I woke up two weeks ago and just the other day I realized I could airbend. I don’t remember much from before I fell asleep. Maybe Vanitas told me to find you so you could teach me airbending? Also, I know this sounds really weird, but you look _just_ like him.”

 

Sora took another bite of his apple while he scrutinized Ventus.

 

“I guess I can teach you what I know,” he shrugged. “But I’m no Master. And my number one priority is finding my friend Riku who ran off.”

 

“Have you ever heard of Organization XIII?” Lea suddenly asked.

 

Sora tilted his head.

 

“You know, that sounds kinda familiar…” he replied, and Lea and Ventus looked at each other. “I feel like I had a dream involving something like that.”

 

“Can you remember anything about your dream?” Lea urged.

 

“Hm…” Sora thought on it as he started on another fruit. “Maybe if I meditate on it I’ll remember.” He set his half eaten pear back into the fruit pile and sat down in a meditative pose. Ventus and Lea looked at each other and then back at Sora, who had closed his eyes and began taking deep breaths.

 

_Organization XIII….._

 

_Organization XIII…………_

 

He repeated this to himself internally over and over until-

 

**_Sora. You found me._ **

 

Ventus immediately lost consciousness. It was so sudden that Lea almost didn’t have time to react, but he caught him before he hit the floor.

 

“Ven?!

 

And then Lea heard a _thump_ and saw that Sora was no longer meditating, but had slumped to the side and onto the floor like he had fallen asleep.

 

“Sora?!”

 

Neither of them responded.

 

_Okay, don’t panic. This must have something to do with their connection, like how they were able to communicate that one time._

 

Lea laid Ventus down and used his jacket as a makeshift pillow. He moved Sora over so that they could share the “pillow”. Now all he had to do was wait. He grabbed a banana from the fruit pile and started eating, for lack of anything else to do (not to mention that he was _starving_ ).

 

***

 

**_Sora. You found me._ **

 

_What? Who are you?_

 

**_I’m Vanitas. You mended Ventus’s heart with your own when I was ripped out of him._ **

 

_What?_

 

**_I don’t expect you to understand. I mean, I’ve only just understood all of this myself. Nice place ya got here, by the way. Lots of memories of a silver-haired boy~_ **

 

_H-Hey! That’s personal!_

 

**_Should’ve thought of that before you mended Ventus’s heart. Now the three of us are connected. Well, actually, the_ four _of us, as I’ve recently found out…_**

 

_Four?! Are you telling me there are three other people living inside my heart?! I don’t remember agreeing to any of this!_

 

**_But you did, whether you remember it or not._ **

 

_So where are these other people?_

 

 **_They’re fused inside me, since I’m the original. I’m the_ ** **_real_ ** **_Ventus, but I didn’t want you to be confused because I’m not the Ventus whom you have just met._ **

 

_Okay… But what about the third person?_

 

**_That would be Roxas._ **

 

_Roxas?_

 

**_Yes. You see, when you had your little “accident” a year ago, Roxas was formed, and because Ventus was sleeping in your heart, he resembled him and not you. When Roxas was destroyed, that part of Ventus that was inside him went back into Ventus and woke him up. I also reformed._ **

 

_Accident? What “accident”?_

 

**_That is a question that only your precious Riku should answer. It’s not my place to tell you._ **

 

_What? Why would Riku know?_

 

**_Like I said, ask him yourself._ **

 

_But I don’t know where he is!_

 

**_Ask Lea about the Realm of Darkness. That’s where he’ll be._ **

 

 _The Realm of Darkness?! But Master Yen Sid said to_ _never_ _go there!_

 

**_Do ya wanna find your boyfriend or not?_ **

 

_?!~?!~?!~?!?~!~!~?!~!?~!?~?~?! B-boyfriend?!??~?~?~!?~!?~?!~?!~_

 

**_Besides, there’s also someone stuck there who is Ventus’s friend. And if anyone can get you there, it’s Lea. It won’t be easy, but if your heart is strong enough to mend broken ones, I think you can do this._ **

 

_…_

 

 **_I’ve gotta wake up now._ ** **_He’ll_ ** **_know I was talking to you so watch your back. Teach Ventus airbending. You’ll need all the help you can get once_ ** **_he_ ** **_realizes we’ve been talking._ **

 

_“He”? Who’s “he”?_

 

 

 

 

But then Sora woke up, and so did Ventus. They both sat up at the same time, startling Lea who fell into the fruit pile.

 

“Lea, you are _never_ gonna believe this!” Ventus exclaimed, scrambling to the fruit pile to tell his friend everything that he had just experienced.

 

***

 

“I guess you didn’t learn your lesson the _first_ time,” Xehanort growled, bending the metal cuffs to force Vanitas up. Vanitas only glared at him.

 

“But whatever you’ve told him doesn’t matter; the avatar will be here soon, and then it will be too late to stop me,” Xehanort grinned.

 

Vanitas wanted to spit curses at the old man, but he was bending his metal jaw guard to keep his mouth shut.

 

“No one is going to save you, you filthy creature of darkness,” Xehanort whispered. “You are an abomination beyond hope of salvation.”

 

Vanitas wished he could remember a time when he hadn’t been in pain. Now it felt like the only thing he had ever known. But if he had to suffer all of this so that Ventus didn’t have to, then he’d take whatever pain the Master gave him. This would have been laughable to the old him, but after spending time fused back together with Ventus inside Sora’s heart for ten years yet still being two separate people, they'd formed a bond unlike any other. Only now did he understand that Ventus didn’t remember any of it because of _Roxas_. But that was okay, because Roxas led Ventus to Lea, and Lea was going to lead Ventus back to himself, and then they’d be together again and maybe, just maybe, they could finally put an end to their wretched _Master_.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is ready and it dives into Isa and Lea's backstory. I'll put it up once I get Axel style from the Axel KHUX event as celebration! (this is also incentive for strategy help from you guys hint hint ;w; pls help me ;;;;;w;;;;;)


	11. Chapter XI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isa and Lea are best friends.  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> .  
> Isa and Lea are a little more than best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally, FINALLY got Axel style in KHUX!!! I have never worked harder for anything in my entire life. I really thought I wasn't going to make it, but I finally got it with only a half hour left of the event to go.  
> I also miiiiiight have made a promise to a higher power that I'd be nicer to Bakugo from Boku no Hero Academia since I'm in a BnHA group chat with my friends and I hate on him a lot (he's a jerk to Midoriya so um) but half my group chat loves him and I was getting desperate so I was like I PROMISE I'LL BE NICER TO BAKUGO IF I CAN JUST GET AXEL STYLE  
> and then I did  
> ANYWAY the real hero here is [ Kari ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kawree/pseuds/kawree) who I met on tumblr and then helped me through a discord chat. SO THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YOU because I never could have gotten Axel style without your help, so THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

 

**_~~~_ **

**_I dreamed the whole world vanished_ **

**_In the night, my room feels vast_ **

**_And the silence chokes my heart_ **

**_Making it hard to breathe_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

Isa had two pet rabbits. One was named Luna and the other was named Star. He loved letting them hop around his room. They left droppings frequently but Isa didn’t care. What he really loved was creating obstacles out of water and ice for his pets to leap through or over. It was like his own little rabbit circus. He would put on little shows for his parents and, more importantly, Lea.

 

But one day, when he and Lea were seventeen, it all went wrong.

 

Isa was letting his bunnies roam free in his room, when suddenly the door to his room opened.

 

“Yo, Isa,” Lea greeted him. Lea always came over unannounced; it was nothing new. But today, Luna decided to make a beeline for the door.

 

“Luna, no!” Isa yelled, his hand outstretched as if he could magically catch her. And magically, she stopped, and Isa felt a weird sensation in his bending energy.

 

“Whoa, how’d you do that?” Lea asked, but Isa didn’t reply. He pulled his bending energy back and Luna followed, frozen and emitting terrified squeaks.

 

“Isa, are _you_ doing that?” Lea asked, looking fascinated.

 

“I think I am,” Isa replied, sliding his pet back towards him with his bending. “I don’t know how though… But if feels like I’m using my waterbending, somehow.”

 

Lea closed the door behind him and watched as the frozen rabbit slid back towards Isa. Isa let the energy go, and as soon as he did Luna hopped away, scrambling for the door again. He reached out and pulled Luna back, the same sensation happening.

 

“That is _amazing_ ,” Lea gasped with awe.

 

“It feels weird,” Isa said, letting his rabbit go and watching her hop as far away from him as possible. “And I don’t think Luna likes it very much.”

 

“That’s gotta come in handy sometimes, though,” Lea told him. “Like keeping pets from running away, or stopping animal attacks!”

 

Isa wasn’t sure how he really felt. It seemed like Luna was now scared of him but Lea thought it was the coolest thing he’d ever seen.

 

Something else was creeping up the back of his mind.

 

_Was I_ _bending_ _the water inside Luna? Was I_ _bending_ _the blood inside her veins?_

 

He started to feel queasy.

 

“I don’t think this is something I should be doing…” he said, sounding weird. Lea noticed the shakiness in his voice.

 

“Isa, are you okay? I mean, it was just Luna. I’m sure she just got freaked out. It’s nothing to be worried about.”

 

Isa was only slightly quelled. He hoped he never had to use that weird power again.

 

***

 

A week later, Isa got some horrible news.

 

“ _You enrolled me in the North Pole Academy for the Water Arts?!_ ”

 

Isa was furious, and his parents didn’t understand why.

 

“We thought you’d be happy!” his mother scolded him. “It’s the best waterbending school out there, and you got accepted!”

 

Yes, maybe in another life he would have _loved_ to be taught under the best waterbending masters the world had to offer. But that would mean leaving Lea, and that was unacceptable.

 

“I’m happy here,” Isa frowned. “There’s a local master who specifies in ice arts and I was looking forward to training under him.”

 

“They have _lots_ of ice masters in the North Pole, Isa,” his father laughed. “The North Pole _is_ ice!”

 

“I want to stay here!”

 

The room began to ice over.

 

“Isa, calm down,” his father ordered, and Isa tried to quell himself. “See, this is exactly why you _need_ to go. They can teach you to control that.”

 

“I’m not going,” Isa said more calmly, the ice around the room receding. “You can’t make me.”

 

“It’s because you’ll miss your friend, isn’t it?”

 

Isa froze, willing his cheeks not to flush.

 

“Don’t worry about him, Isa. He’ll be here when you get back.”

 

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?!” Isa spat, not caring that windows iced over as his anger bubbled up again. “You think Lea’s not talented enough to get into a good school?”

 

“Relax, Isa, that’s not what I meant at all!” his mother huffed. “We _know_ he’s talented. He’s been here enough times to show off his skills. There are plenty of schools around here for benders.”

 

“Then why can’t I stay, too?” Isa snapped. “Any school that Lea goes to is good enough for me!

 

“Nonsense,” Isa’s father dismissed him. “You’re going to the North Pole Academy and that’s final!”

 

Isa stormed from his house without another word, leaving a trail of ice behind him.

 

***

 

Lea could always sense when something was wrong with Isa no matter where either of them were. He could just _feel_ the temperature outside get colder. So it wasn’t a surprise when Lea found Isa at their usual spot with the fountain in the middle of the quad frozen solid.

 

“Isa… what happened?”

 

“My parents are sending me to the North Pole.”

 

“What?!”

 

Lea sat down next to him.

 

“I don’t want to go,” Isa continued.

 

Lea was silent. He didn’t want Isa to go either. But he also knew that the North Pole had amazing opportunities for waterbenders. Lea sighed.

 

“I think you should.”

 

“What?!” Now Isa was surprised. “You _want_ me to go?”

 

“Don’t be stupid, of _course_ I don’t _want_ you to go!” Lea huffed. “But it’s not about me. It’s about you. And the North Pole is said to have the finest waterbending academies out there! That’s a HUGE opportunity for you!”

 

“But I’ll be so far away!” Isa argued. “I might not see you for years!”

 

“And you think that will stop us from being friends?” Lea snorted. “Isa, you could be gone for a hundred years and you’d still always be my best friend. Got it memorized?”

 

“It’s not about that!” Isa huffed, standing up. “I know we’ll always be friends. I could never forget you. Believe me, I try all the time.”

 

“You _try_ to forget me?”

 

Isa was frozen. He hadn’t meant to say it. Lea looked confused and a little hurt and Isa knew he had made a mistake. How could he recover from such an awkward statement? He had to say something, fast!

 

_Because you drive me insane._

 

_Because I can never stop thinking about you._

 

_Because when you’re not next to me it hurts._

 

There was a full minute of silence as Isa could not think of a single way to recover from what he had just said. He wanted to play it off as a joke, but he had said it so seriously and Lea knew him so well that he’d know right away he was lying.

 

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Lea demanded, standing up so he could be eye to eye with Isa. Isa wouldn’t look at him- _couldn’t_ look at him.

 

“I try to forget,” he finally said, doing his best to keep the shakiness out of his voice, “because when we’re not together, it doesn’t _feel_ right. Even if I know I’m going to see you the next day, or in a few hours, I feel… _wrong_. So I try to forget. I don’t expect you to understand.” He jumped from the ledge they’d been sitting on and walked over to the frozen fountain.

 

“I can’t explain it, Lea,” he sighed, although he actually _could_ explain it but if he did he’d ruin their friendship, and then he’d _really_ lose Lea. “You’re my best friend. Being away from you feels like a hole in my chest. And that’s why I’m not going to the North Pole.”

 

_You’re my other half. The sun to my moon._

 

He unfroze the fountain and leaned on the fountain rim. He was surprised when he felt a warm hand cover his.

 

“You don’t have to explain,” Lea said. “I understand.”

 

Isa’s cheeks heated, despite all attempts to suppress his feelings. _Lea’s hand was over his…! No, don’t overthink it. Don’t look at him, you’ll make it worse._

 

“Isa, look at me.”

 

He couldn’t ignore the request or else Lea would _know_ so Isa turned to look at him.

 

“I don’t want you to go to the North Pole,” he said. “I want you to stay here with me. It hurts me, too, when you’re not around. I like it when you’re close. I like… being close to you.”

 

_I feel complete when you’re near me._

 

Isa felt like he was going to burst. Any second, the truth was going to spill from him like the water spilling from the fountain they were leaning against. Lea’s hand over his was almost burning him, his emerald eyes burning into sea-foam ones even more so.

 

“I think I’m love with you.”

 

And then the fountain exploded.

 

The two fell back, both taken by surprise. Water was spurting erratically from the fountain and both of them had fallen backwards. Isa quickly bent the water away from himself.

 

“You _what?!_ ” he gasped, trying to bend the water away from Lea, too.

 

“I think I’m in love with you!” Lea yelled, spluttering through the water. “I’m sorry, the tension was so bad I think I caused the fountain to explode…”

 

Isa jumped up, letting go of his bending power and practically falling on top of Lea, pulling his face up into a very, very, _very_ overdue kiss. Relief washed over him with the water, flooding the ground and draining his fears away with it. He could not _believe_ … _all this time_ … What had he ever been so afraid of? They’d always been closer than “normal” friends. There was a connection between them that Isa had never felt with anyone else. Kissing Lea was so natural, so _right_ …

 

Until Lea suddenly jerked and moved his head to the side to cough and hack, and Isa realized he must’ve accidentally inhaled some water. Panting from how desperately he had leapt onto Lea, Isa turned and froze the fountain water so it would stop spraying water everywhere. Then he felt around and bent the water from Lea’s lungs where he had breathed it in.

 

“S-Sorry,” Lea coughed in a hoarse voice. “I ruined the moment.”

 

Isa bent all the water out of their clothes and away from them.

 

“Let’s go somewhere more private,” Isa insisted, talking more confidently than he felt. Lea looked completely dazed. Isa helped him up, and, taking his hand, rushed them into the nearby forest where they could be alone.

 

***

 

Isa’s need to stay by Lea’s side outweighed everything else in his life. That included opportunities at the North Pole and it included the weird feeling he got when he used his bending to take control of small animals. The Royal Guards only accepted people with unique bending abilities, and this weird power he had over animals together with Lea’s ability to control what his fire did and did not burn (not to mention that he himself was immune to fire) would _surely_ get them a spot in with the Guards. The problem was, one did not simply _apply_ to be a Royal Guard. It had to be _earned_ , and rumor had it that if you could sneak past the current guards, whoever was in charge would see that you had potential and let you show off your unique bending. If you were deemed unique, you’d be in. If not…

 

Well, they’d worry about that later, if they had to. Which they wouldn’t, because they’d get in. And once you were a Guard, you were a Guard, and Isa’s parents _couldn’t_ send him away.

 

“I don’t know if making a bunch of squirrels dance will be impressive enough,” Lea frowned, watching Isa move his hand and a row of squirrels following suit. Isa turned an eye to him and then reached out with his other hand. A second later, a bird crashed right into the side of Lea’s head.

 

“Hey!”

 

Isa laughed, letting the bird go. It flew away immediately.

 

“I’m just saying,” Lea explained, rubbing the side of his head, “that maybe you should try a bigger animal. Imagine having a pack of attack dogs at your control, or a bunch of bears!”

 

Isa let go of the squirrels and they all quickly scampered away.

 

“I don’t… I don’t really feel comfortable doing that, Lea…” Isa looked at the ground. Lea frowned and walked over, sitting down next to him and laying his head on his shoulders.

 

“Isa, you know as well as I do the risks of being recruited as a Guard,” Lea said. “If this is the skill you’re going to present to them to prove your worth, they’re going to push it to its limits. If you can control a squirrel, you can control anything that has water in its blood. They’ll make you use it on a person, sooner or later.”

 

Isa leaned back against the trunk of the tree he’d been sitting under. He knew that was a possibility, but it was either this or get sent to the North Pole.

 

“Come with me,” Isa said, taking Lea’s hand, “to the North Pole.”

 

“If I had the munny, I would in a heartbeat,” Lea sighed, lacing their fingers together. “Not to mention that firebenders aren’t exactly _welcome_ in places made of ice.”

 

“Then let’s run away together, just you and me.”

 

Lea snorted.

 

“I’m serious.” Isa shook Lea’s head from his shoulder to look at him straight in the eyes. “We’ll pack some bags and just run away. We can make it on our own!”

 

“This basically _is_ running away,” Lea told him. Isa sighed defeatedly, leaning back against the tree again.

 

“I just want to stay with you,” Isa muttered, and Lea put his head back on Isa’s shoulder.

 

“No matter what happens, it’ll be you and me forever! I promise,” Lea told him. Isa smiled and tilted his head, using his free hand to tilt Lea’s head up into a kiss.

 

“A promise sealed with a kiss,” Isa whispered when he pulled away. Lea licked his lips.

 

“Maybe I should make some more promises, then.”

 

Isa laughed and shoved him playfully.

 

“Promise to buy me ice cream and I’ll give you ten kisses.”

 

“You jerk. Okay, I promise.”

 

Isa kept his promise and so did Lea.

 

~~~***~~~

 

When Saix woke up, he felt nothing but emptiness inside his chest- inside _himself._ But there was a voice that wasn’t his own, whispering in his ears **_he left you he left you he left you he left you heleftyouheleftyouheleftyouheleftyou_**

 

Saix got out of bed and began getting ready for the day. He had important missions to give out. If what the Superior said was true, then they’d soon have another member, the most _valuable_ member.

 

**_He broke his promise his promise his promise hispromisebrokenbrokenbroken broken broken b r o k e n_ **

 

The world was empty and he was empty but if the avatar helped them get to Kingdom Hearts, then he wouldn’t be empty anymore. He wouldn’t ever be held back by his past again.

 

**_He broke his promise and left you. But I am always here._ **

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meltdown is almost over!! Part 2 of this series is called Under the Darkness, and is still being written. School is starting soon so that will either inspire me to write more or nothing will get written (there is no in-between lol) but I have a lot planned out so don't worry!
> 
> Next time on Meltdown: more IsaLea flashbacks c:


	12. Chapter XII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Isa and Lea flashbacks.  
> Present day Lea explains about the Realm of Darkness and also discovers a secret about the Organization jackets.

 

**_~~~_ **

**_((SHOUT!))_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

“So you wanna keep your elbows in and your feet one behind the other,” Sora explained, showing Ventus a basic airbending form. Ventus copied him.

 

“Wind is light and free, flowing around your body at all times. All you have to do is guide it.” The two circled each other and Sora whipped up a wind. Ventus could feel Sora’s wind and added to it, and together the air flowed around them effortlessly.

 

As Lea watched, he was reminded of when he and Isa used to train together. A small smile perked his lips but he quickly shook it away. No, he had to focus. While those two trained, it was _his_ job to think of a way to get back to the Realm of Darkness. It wasn’t _hard_ exactly, it was just incredibly risky. The moment he set foot back in there the Organization would know, and they’d immediately be targets, and Vanitas would immediately be in danger, if Xemnas kept his end of the deal he had talked about right before Lea got drugged and thrown back into the normal world. But Vanitas must've known the risks if he was the one who had said to go there. Lea really didn’t want another Ventus-nightmare-freak-out episode to happen. He could only hope that Vanitas would be able to keep himself under control if he got tortured again.

 

“For me, I use my staff as an extension of my power,” Sora said as they took a quick break. “It’s like an air amplifier. And I use it to fly.”

 

“Where can I get a staff like that?” Ventus asked, looking at it curiously.

 

“Only in places that train airbenders. I got mine from Master Yen Sid.”

 

“Oh…“ Ventus looked disheartened and Sora felt bad.

 

“I did pack an extra flying suit, though, if you want to borrow it. It has special flaps that you can attach to your wrists and you can still fly, even without a staff.”

 

Ventus perked up. “Really? I’d love to try that!”

 

“Hold on, now,” Lea cut in suddenly. “You are _just_ learning how to use your bending. I don’t think it’s wise for you to go around jumping off cliffs yet.”

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll catch him if he can’t manage it,” Sora assured Lea.

 

“No offense, Sora, but Ven is a full-grown adult and you’re a kid.”

 

“So?” Sora pouted. Then he stood up and made circular motions with his hands. Lea felt the air around him whip up and suddenly he was floating.

 

“Okay, _fine_ , you’ve proven your point!” Lea shouted irritably. “Now put me down!” The bending stopped immediately and Lea fell hard on his ass.

 

“I said 'put me down,' not _drop me_ ,” he complained, standing up and rubbing his backside.

 

“What’s the matter, Lea?” Sora snickered. “Are you… _butthurt?_ ” Both Sora and Ventus burst into laughter, and even Lea couldn’t be mad about it anymore. It was exactly something Roxas would say.

 

“Alright, alright, back to training, both of you,” Lea chuckled, sitting back down and trying to get his mind in a serious state again.

 

Their first priority upon entering the Realm of Darkness was to find Sora’s friend Riku and the girl named Aqua that Ventus used to know and Vanitas had said was looking for him. Once they found those people, they could then focus on infiltrating Organization XIII and rescuing Vanitas. Then there was the problem of Isa. Lea wasn’t sure how to even _begin_ to rescue _him_ , especially if he was still convinced he was Saix. He’d have to snap him out of it, somehow. Lea reached up and felt the burns he had made on his face. They hurt less now, and were healing, but they would be there forever to remind him of his promise. To remind him of his sins.

 

_Isa…_

 

~~~

 

_“Hey! What are you kids doing?!”_

 

_One of the Royal Guards had spotted them and was advancing fast. Lea threw fire the Guard’s way and grabbed Isa’s arm as they ran in the opposite direction._

 

_“Hey, stop in the name of Ansem the Wise!” another Guard shouted. They were being closed in on._

 

_Isa and Lea were back to back, ready to defend themselves._

 

_“No matter what happens, it’s us forever,” Lea whispered back to Isa. Isa squeezed his hand. And then Lea set themselves on fire. The Guards backed off, feeling the heat radiating from the two boys on fire._

 

_“How the hell…?” one Guard said with surprise._

 

_To Isa, he just felt warm, like Lea was surrounding him in a hug. The flames even smelled like him. It was so amazing he almost forgot what they were doing._

 

_“Take us to whoever’s in charge!” Lea demanded, “or I’ll burn everything to the ground!” To show that he meant business, he set some nearby curtains on fire. But then one of the guards produced a large amount of water seemingly from nowhere and extinguished the curtains and the two boys. Isa was quick to bend all the water back, turning it into sharp knives of ice, and Lea set himself, but not Isa, on fire again. They were ready for whatever the Guards could throw at them._

 

_But they hadn’t expected the other Guard to stomp his foot and then bend the floor underneath them away. Isa’s ice turned back into water and Lea’s flames vanished as they both fell into the unknown. Isa quickly bent the water under them to cushion their fall. For half a minute they fell into darkness, terrified of what was waiting for them below. When they hit the ground, the water burst like it had been a giant bubble._

 

_“Are you okay?” Isa asked, immediately jumping up._

 

_“Yeah, I’m fine,” Lea replied, bending a small flame so that they could see. They were in some kind of… weird prison cell. Isa felt the sides of the wall._

 

_“It’s some kind of metal,” he concluded. As if to prove his point, a loud metallic, machine sound roared above them until there was a clunk of some kind. “And I think we just got boxed in.”_

 

_“Well, all metal has a melting point,” Lea said, his flames enlarging. He tried to burn through the side of the wall but all there was was more metal. He succeeded in creating a large dent before he tired himself out._

 

_“You don’t think we’ll run out of oxygen down here, do you?” Lea asked._

 

_“I hate to say it, but from what I can feel in the air with my water, there are no vents or anything. We might only have what’s already in the room with us,” Isa told him darkly. “So no more firebending.”_

 

_“FUCK!” Lea cried, slumping to the ground. “Isa, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”_

 

_Isa felt his way over to Lea by feeling the water in his body, since they were in complete darkness._

 

 _“It’s okay,” he whispered, cuddling up to him and taking his hand. “As long as I’m with you, that’s all that matters.” He felt around for Lea’s head and drew him into a kiss. They needed to conserve oxygen so they kept the kissing to a minimum. Then they just sat there, leaning against each other, waiting for something,_ anything _, to happen._

 

 _And then something_ did _happen._

 

_Isa perked up, causing Lea to grunt, “Huh?”_

 

_“I can feel something moving.”_

 

_“What are you talking about?”_

 

_“I can feel something with water inside it moving outside this box prison. The metal must be a few meters thick but I can feel it, very faintly.” Isa got up and started feeling around the sides of the room._

 

_“There’s a crack here!” Isa whispered excitedly. “This must be where it opens!”_

 

_Isa felt around the room for all the water, aside what was in their bodies, and bent it through the crack in the wall. It took a lot of effort to stretch his bending power that far, but he would push his powers past their limits if it meant saving Lea’s life. He finally felt the water spread out and knew he must’ve hit the other side. Through that thin line of water he drew in more power until he could feel something made largely out of water._

 

_A human._

 

_Did he dare…?_

 

 _Lea’s scratchy cough was enough motivation (after all, he_ did _have to use all the water that was in the air for this, so there was no humidity in the room and Lea was probably already feeling the effect)._

 

_Isa’s thin line of water wrapped around the person’s foot, and it was enough to transfer his power through, like electricity passing through a wire._

 

_He took control of the man’s body. Well, all he could really do was force him against the wall and render him immobile. On the side of the wall he spelled out “OPEN DOOR OR DIE” in ice. He knew the person must have screamed out for help and someone would see that message and open this metal prison._

 

_Sure enough, it wasn’t long until Isa felt more people coming. About five minutes later, the clinks and clanks of gears began to turn and sections of the door were opening. For security reasons, there must have been several sections that had to open before they got to where the boys were stranded. As soon as the nearest section began to open, Isa let his power go and immediately passed out from the stress._

 

_“Isa!” Lea scampered over and held him in his arms as he squinted into the light now penetrating their cell._

 

 _“Well, well, well…” a man with a deep voice said. “Looks like you kids_ do _have some talent after all!”_

 

_~~~_

 

“Okay, guys, listen up,” Lea said as the three of them sat down. “Getting into the Realm of Darkness itself isn’t hard, but it’s _surviving_ in there that’s the tricky thing. The moment we set foot in there the Organization will _know_ and then we’ll all become targets and Vanitas will probably- Well, the fact is we will DEFINITELY be hunted. I have no doubt that Xemnas will order members of higher rank to exterminate us, so we have to always be on alert.”

 

“Question,” Ventus interjected, raising his hand. “What exactly _is_ the Realm of Darkness?”

 

“I would also like to know this,” Sora nodded in agreement. “All I know is that Master Yen Sid said to never go there. Which is why I still can’t believe Riku would be there…”

 

“Our world is layered, like a cake,” Lea explained. “The Spirit World is the top layer, our physical world is the middle layer, and the Realm of Darkness is the bottom layer. As the name suggests, it’s filled with darkness which is why normally people don’t go there. That’s why the Organization chose it as the place to hide their headquarters. All members are trained to create portals that can let them jump between the Realm and the physical world. How your friends Riku and Aqua ended up there, I don’t know, because I only know how to get there by portal. There might be places where there are naturally occurring portals or something, though that’s just a theory because I’ve never encountered one but it’s the only thing that makes sense. How else would people have stumbled upon it in the first place? Anyway, once I open the portal, the Organization will know I broke our agreement and any number of things could happen.”

 

“Vanitas…” Ventus gulped, and Lea nodded.

 

“Well, Vanitas is the one who told you we needed to get there, so he must have accepted whatever consequences will happen to him once we’re there.”

 

Ventus still looked crestfallen, so Lea said, “C’mon, cheer up! I’m sure he can handle it.”

 

“Yeah,” Ventus nodded, but he still looked worried. When he and Vanitas had become one again inside Sora’s heart, he had felt warm and _whole_ , something he hadn’t known he wasn’t feeling. Ever since he woke up, he'd felt an empty, aching hole inside himself. A hole where Vanitas should've been. Though Vanitas had been the one talking, Ventus understood everything as though they really _were_ whole again. Even if there was no way to ever fuse back together, he knew that he just needed to have Vanitas next to him and he wouldn’t feel the empty throbbing inside his heart anymore.

 

And then there were Aqua and Terra. Ventus could remember them vividly now after being back with Vanitas as one. They had been his friends, like older siblings watching over him. Vanitas said Aqua was in the Realm of Darkness, but he hadn’t said anything about Terra. It was as if he knew something about Terra that he didn’t want Ventus to know. He was protecting him from something… Something horrible that happened to him that Vanitas thought it better if Ventus didn’t find out. But sooner or later he would. Step one was to find Aqua, though.

 

“Well?” said Lea. “Are you guys ready?”

 

The other two nodded.

 

“For Riku!” Sora said, holding his hand out.

 

“For Vanitas and Aqua!” Ventus agreed, putting his hand over Sora’s. “And Terra, wherever he is…”

 

“For Isa,” Lea almost whispered, adding his hand to the pile.

 

_For Isa…_

 

~~~

 

_“Blood… bending…”_

 

_The first time Isa heard that word, he had broken down into tears. It sounded so awful, so horrible… And he had done it to another human being. That thought made him physically ill._

 

_“It’s a very unique skill, usually one that has to be taught rigorously AND a skill that can only be used during a full moon… You’re as unique as they come, Isa.”_

 

_Isa wasn’t comforted by these words._

 

_“I’m a monster,” he sobbed, shrinking away from the man in a black coat._

 

_“No, your power is a gift,” the man assured him. “And I can help you hone that skill and use it to the fullest potential.”_

 

_“No, I’m never using it again!” Isa said with finality. The man in black frowned._

 

_“I’m sorry to hear you say that,” he said sincerely. “But I think you’ll change your mind after you give it some thought.”_

 

_“Oh? What makes you so sure?” Isa scoffed._

 

_“Because you work for us now, and so does your little firebender friend.”_

 

_Isa jumped up, using the water in the air to create sharp blades of ice all pointed directly at the man._

 

_“WHERE’S LEA?!” he demanded. The man didn’t so much as flinch. Isa shot a blade of ice at the man’s foot to show he meant business but the ice was effortlessly broken by a stone. So, this man was an earthbender. Isa shot more ice and they were all effortlessly deflected by stones._

 

_“You can’t defeat me, Isa,” the man said, unfazed. “But don’t worry. We won’t harm Lea as long as you follow your orders.”_

 

 _“_ WHERE IS HE?! _” Isa repeated._

 

 _“He’s safe,” the man said. “We’re sedating him for the time being, lest he burn down the whole facility. But once you show you can behave_ your _self, we’ll let him wake up and then_ you _can make sure he behaves_ him _self.”_

 

 _Isa couldn’t believe it. How did everything get so fucked up so fast? This was supposed to keep them_ together _, so that he didn’t get sent to the North Pole. And now they were drugging Lea and going to force Isa to bloodbend and everything was_ wrong _and Isa just wanted to be back by the fountain, eating ice cream with Lea and laughing about stupid stuff._

 

_“And if I refuse to join you?” Isa snorted. “What, you’ll kill us?”_

 

_The man laughed._

 

_“Kill? Don’t go jumping to absurd conclusions!” He smiled nastily at Isa._

 

_“We’ll do something much worse than killing you. Use your imagination.”_

 

_With that, he left Isa, earthbending his exit so there were no doors to bust open or locks to pick. Isa was stuck._

 

_Either he bent to the will of whoever was in charge, or they did god-knows-what with Lea, who was currently unconscious in another room._

 

 _There was a black coat on a chair with a note on top of it. It read, “_ When you decide to join us, put it on.”

 

For Lea, _Isa thought as he put on the coat. Immediately something didn’t feel right. A pressure seemed to weigh down on his brain. Something was_ wrong _, but Isa kept the coat on, repeating to himself,_ for Lea. For Lea. For Lea.

 

~~~

 

“ _Why isn’t this working?!_ ” Lea spat as he once again unsuccessfully tried to open a portal to the Realm of Darkness.

 

“Just be patient. I’m sure it’ll come back to you,” Ventus tried to comfort him.

 

“No. I know why it’s not working,” Lea sighed. “It’s because I don’t have that damn _coat_ anymore.”

 

“A coat?” Sora said quizzically.

 

“You mean that black coat everyone in Organization XIII wears?” Ventus asked.

 

“Yeah. I burned it the moment I was out of the Realm. As soon as I did, the remaining effects of the brainwashing lifted from me. I-“ But then Lea abruptly stopped talking.

 

“Lea?”

 

“ _That’s_ how everyone is being brainwashed!” he exclaimed excitedly. “I can’t believe it never dawned on me before! If I burn Isa’s coat, maybe he’ll remember who he is…!”

 

“We have to actually _get_ to Isa in order to do that, though,” Sora added unhelpfully.

 

Lea gave him a small scowl but then said, “If your friend Riku can get there, then so can we. We just need to find another way in.”

 

“Yeah, how _did_ Riku get there?” Sora wondered, and Ventus shrugged.  _Maybe he found a natural portal somewhere...?_

 

**Tell Lea to _burn_ a portal into the Realm, idiot.**

 

Ventus was suddenly blinking up at the concerned faces of Lea and Sora.

 

“Ven, you okay?” Lea asked. “You just suddenly passed out…”

 

“Vanitas said to burn a portal into the Realm,” Ventus answered, struggling to stand up. “It’d be nice if I could talk to him _without_ having to pass out suddenly to do so…”

 

“Burn a portal…” Lea thought on it. “Well, my fire _does_ burn through whatever I tell it to. I suppose it’s possible for me to burn a hole into the Realm of Darkness.”

 

Lea concentrated, concentrated harder than he ever had on anything in his entire life on a flame he made in his hand. He held it out and Ventus and Sora both moved back to give Lea some space.

 

 _Burn! Burn into the Realm of Darkness!_ Lea silently commanded. His flame grew and grew until it was large as himself, and then suddenly the flames turned black.

 

“ _Jump through!_ ” Lea gasped, motioning to his friends. The two looked at each other uncertainly.

 

“ _Trust me!_ ” Lea yelled, and without another word, he vanished into the flames.

 

Ventus and Sora gave each other a look of understanding, and together they jumped through the black flames.

 

~~~

 

_When Lea woke up, he felt stiff and weak and groggy. It took him a minute to realize that Isa was sitting by his bed, reading a book._

 

_“Isa…?”_

 

_“Lea, you’re awake.” He shut his book._

 

_Something was… different about Isa. His face was emotionless, and his eyes…_

 

_“Isa, what happened to your eyes…?” Lea groaned and tried to sit up, but Isa quickly hurried over and forced him to lay back down._

 

_“Don’t worry about it,” Isa told him. “You’ve been asleep for a long time.”_

 

_“I have? How long?”_

 

_“Not important. Don’t worry, I’ll help you recover. But first, when you’re not feeling dizzy anymore, put this coat on.”_

 

_“…Coat…? Why?”_

 

_“I’ll explain later.”_

 

_Lea looked at Isa, and Isa looked at Lea. That was all he needed as he slowly sat up and slipped on the coat._

 

_“Your name is now Axel,” Isa said, “and my name is Saix. We did it, Lea. We’re together, and there’s no turning back.”_

 

_“You and me forever,” Axel grinned, barely noticing the pressure he was feeling around his mind._

 

 _“All you need to do now,” Saix said, “is_ **_trust me._ ** _”_

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to upload! My beta-er had a lot of notes of corrections/clarifications for me to do for this chapter so I kept putting it off. And then my semester started so I've been busy with that, too. On the bright side, I have a new doctor who is actually GOOD and got me on a good medication for my ADD and it's actually motivating me to do stuff, so I was actually able to finally make those corrections/clarifications in this chapter and now I can post it!
> 
> One more chapter to go and then it will be time for Part II. I encourage you to subscribe to the series that this fic belongs to so that once Meltdown is over you'll get notified when I post the next installment of the series, called Under the Darkness. Here is a link to the series, called Deja Vú. http://archiveofourown.org/series/741423
> 
> Thank you for reading my fic and giving me support! I always get inspired when people tell me they like my writing ^///^ Even if you don't comment/kudos/bookmark/subscribe, just one page view is enough to make me feel like I'm doing something right. So really, thank you so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying my story :)


	13. Chapter XIII

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lea, Ventus, and Sora finally make it into the Realm of Darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. My beta got REALLY busy with work. But it's finally here! Enjoy!

 

**_~~~_ **

**_If I_ **

**_Jumped into the core_ **

**_I’d vanish, like I had gone to sleep_ **

**_A morning without me_ **

**_Would be perfect_ **

**_All the gears meshing together_ **

**_That’s how the world would be_ **

**_~~~_ **

 

 

 

 

“The agreement is broken,” Xemnas said to Saix. “Send numbers II and III right away.”

 

“Understood,” Saix nodded without hesitation. He left immediately to give the orders.

 

“Now then.” Xemnas turned to the guest in his room. “Today, you start your training. I know the perfect person for you to spar with. He’s another apprentice here at the castle.”

 

“What type of bender is he?” the guest in a black coat asked.

 

“He’s a shadowbender.”

 

“A shadowbender? That’s not one of the four elements.”

 

“Perceptive.” Xemnas smiled. “He’s the one and only. I think he’ll be a good challenge for you. You two can learn from each other.”

 

“In what way?”

 

“You’ll find out. Follow me, number XIII.”

 

***

 

Sora was blind. He felt around and knew he was on some kind of grass.

 

“Lea?! Ventus?!”

 

There was a slight, panicked yelp next to him.

 

“I’m right next to you!” Ventus complained. “You scared me!”

 

“Well, sorry, but I can’t see anything!”

 

“Reason number one why it’s called The Realm of Darkness,” Lea chuckled, lighting a fire in his hand. “Stay close, okay? The Organization will be on our asses in minutes and since we can’t see without this flame, we’re basically giant targets right now.”

 

“Well, what about them?” Sora asked, getting closer to Lea. “How do _they_ see in this darkness?”

 

“I think it was our jackets,” Lea explained. “Those black coats have a lot of special properties. I can’t explain it well, but when I took mine off for the first time, it was like I had stepped out of a bubble and into the real world. Something about those coats isn’t right. They’re cursed, or something.”

 

“Great!” Ventus cheered sarcastically. “So our enemies can see us but we can’t see them, and we have no idea where anyone we’re trying to find is!”

 

“Did you think this was going to be a fucking vacation or something?!” Lea snapped. “I laid out all the risks and you accepted them. This is our only option. You wanna find your friend or not?”

 

“Shhh! Guys, be quiet!” Sora hissed. “You’re making us even easier to find by shouting!”

 

Lea and Ventus were both quiet after that.

 

“So, which direction should we be going?” Ventus finally whispered.

 

“I… have no idea,” Lea admitted. “Didn’t Vanitas tell you something?”

 

“No, he just said Aqua was here. I never thought to ask _where_ in here, though…”

 

While the two whisper-squabbled, Sora watched the flame in Lea’s hand. It burned bright and effortlessly, like an extension of Lea himself. Sora took a deep breath, held out his hand, and concentrated.

 

_Burn._

 

_Fire._

 

_Flame._

 

_Heat._

 

_Light._

 

“Sora, stop! What are you doing?!” Lea suddenly hissed, and Sora realized that he had created a small tornado in his hand.

 

“I was…” Sora realized he was going to have to tell them sooner or later, and now was probably better than later because he couldn’t think of a single excuse for why he had just conjured a mini whirlwind in his hand.

 

“I was trying to firebend.”

 

There was a brief period of silence before Lea said, “Why, out of all the things…. You realize what kind of situation we’re in right now, right?! This is no time to be doing something stupid like trying to firebend when you’re an airbender!”

 

“I have something important to tell you guys,” Sora gulped. “Before I ran away to look for Riku, I was told that I was the avatar.”

 

“You’re _shitting_ me,” Lea laughed derisively. “Sora, tell me you’re joking. _Please_.”

 

“I can hardly believe it either,” Sora sighed, his voice shaky. It was the first time he said it out loud, and now that he had, it felt more permanent, and the gravity of the situtation began to weigh him down.

 

“Sora, this is soooooo bad…!” Lea hissed. “You should’ve said something earlier! I never would have let you come with us!”

 

“Well, then good thing I didn’t tell you before,” Sora hissed back. “I have to find Riku and bring him back!”

 

“You don’t _understand_!” Lea really _did_ try to keep his voice down. “If the Organization finds out _you’re_ the avatar… They’ll stop at nothing to get at you. Holy _shit_ , Sora, this is _bad…!_ ”

 

“I’m sorry, okay?!” Sora hissed, annoyed, “It’s not _my_ fault! I don’t even _want_ to be the avatar!”

 

“Whatever happens, The Organization can NOT find out,” Lea told him, “okay? Why were you even told this before your sixteenth birthday anyway? I assume it wasn’t your birthday, was it?”

 

“Master Yen Sid told me to keep me from chasing after Riku,” Sora grumbled. “He said I needed to stay at the castle and finish mastering airbending. But I left anyway.”

 

“He is a _Master_ , Sora, and there’s a reason for that! You should’ve listened to him…!”

 

Sora broke away from their little group huddled by Lea’s fire.

 

“If you won’t help me find Riku, I’ll go by myself!” Sora yelled. “I’m not afraid of the dark!”

 

“Sora, get back here!” Lea hissed, grabbing Ventus so they wouldn’t get separated.

 

Suddenly there was a strange sound, like air moving at sonic speed, and Lea knew exactly what that meant.

 

“GET DOWN!” he yelled, throwing himself and Ventus to the ground and extinguishing his flame. There was a very loud _boom_ that followed a flash of bright light.

 

“Well, well, well,” came a voice from the darkness. “Long time no see, Flamsilocks.”

 

“Flamsilocks?” Ventus snorted into the ground.

 

“Don’t even,” Lea growled, “and stay down.” He stood up.

 

“Alright, Xiggy, you caught me. I’ll come quietly, as long as you let the others go. This is all on me.”

 

“Oh ho ho, I don’t think so~” the voice sang. “You broke The Superior’s agreement, and that included the Roxas-look-alike. And frankly, anyone else involved, so that means the kid, too.”

 

“Leave them out of this or I won’t hold back,” Lea growled. There was more laughter.

 

“You here that, Xaldin?” the voice laughed. “He can’t even see us because he burned his jacket and yet he wants to take all of us on himself!”

 

So, Xaldin was here, too. That was a problem. And there could be others. Lea cursed his inability to see in the dark. This had been a bad idea. He took a deep breath and exploded into fire. He was able to see Ventus curled up on the ground, but Sora was nowhere in sight. He heard Xigbar’s attack before it happened, allowing him to put up a weak shield of fire before it hit. But not only was Xigbar a combustion bender, but he could do it continuously. There was a reason he was The Organization’s number II. Lea did all he could to cushion the blows with his own fire but Xigbar was just too much.

 

“Lea!” Ventus shouted as he saw his friend literally go down in flames. He jumped up and whipped up fierce whirlwind around himself and Lea.

 

Without warning, something heavy hit him square in the back, knocking him out. 

 

“Nice one, Xaldin,” Xigbar nodded. Xaldin’s specialty was using airbendering to hit chi points, either to disable or knock out a person. That was why he was ordered on this mission as backup.

 

“‘I’ve got these two, you go get the kid,” Xigbar ordered, grabbing Lea and Ventus and throwing them over his shoulders like they were nothing. Xigbar nodded and used his airbending to feel for distortions. He set off for where he could feel the vibrations of someone speaking.

 

***

 

Sora ran and ran, using his airbending to feel his surroundings. He felt bad about abandoning his friends but it was better if one of them escaped than if they all got captured. He could use his bending to “see” around him, though he much preferred the optical way. But beggars couldn’t be choosers, and he needed to get away from those two Organization members as fast as possible.

 

Just when Sora thought he couldn’t run anymore, he saw a light in the distance. He squinted. Had he run in a circle and made it back to where Lea and the others had been? It was definitely a flame, and Sora slowed as he got closer.

 

No, this was a different area. This was someone else’s fire. Someone had made this fire and not with bending.

 

“RIKU?!” Sora shouted hopefully.

 

No sooner had he yelled the name of his best friend when he was surrounded by ropes of water, squeezing him like a python and raising him into the air.

 

“ _Vanitas_?!” a feminine voice snarled from behind him. “How did you get here?! Where’s Ventus?!”

 

“No, I’m Sora!” Sora gasped, barely able to breathe through the constriction. “My name… Sora… looking… for Riku…”

 

The water loosened and Sora could breathe again. He took deep, choking breaths as the water set him down.

 

“Sorry about that,” the girl said, coming into view. “You just… Well, you resemble someone I knew from a long time ago…”

 

“You know Ventus and Vanitas?” Sora asked after getting his breath back. “You must be Aqua, then!”

 

“Do I know you?” Aqua asked, looking cautious.

 

“No, but I’m a friend of Ventus’s. He came here looking for you!” Sora exclaimed. 

 

“Really?! Ventus is awake?! And he’s here?!” Aqua put her hands over her mouth and Sora saw the fire flicker in the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

 

“I’ve been stuck in here for _ten years_ … How are we going to get out? I didn’t want this for him… How did he even get in here?!”

 

“We have a friend named Lea,” Sora explained. “He used to be part of Organization XIII. Apparently the jackets let them create portals-“

 

“I’m aware of that,” Aqua interjected venomously. “They kept trying to recruit me by saying that they were the only ones who could get me out of here. But you say your friend has one of these coats? He can get us out?!”

 

“Well, not exactly,” Sora scratched the back of his neck. “He burned his jacket when he escaped.”

 

“So how did you guys get here?” Aqua asked.

 

“Lea burned a hole through the normal world into here. We came here looking for you, Aqua. Well, and also my friend Riku.”

 

“How did you know I was here?” Aqua asked.

 

“Ventus’s friend Vanitas told us you were.”

 

“Did you say his _friend_ Vanitas?!” Aqua suddenly looked agitated. “Vanitas is no _friend_. He’s the one who _caused_ all of this!”

 

“He caused… what?” Sora asked, confused.

 

Aqua made an angry snort.

 

“He’s the reason Ven wouldn’t wake up. _He’s_ the reason that… He’s the reason that Terra has been taken over by that horrible, awful, scum-of-the-earth Xehanort!”

 

“Terra is being possessed?” Sora was very confused. He'd thought Vanitas was one of the good guys, the way Ventus talked about him, and what they had said inside their mind… But Aqua made him sound like a villain. And saying that Terra was being possessed… Did she know where this Terra guy was?

 

“I don’t know how much you know about Organization XIII,” Aqua said, “I don’t know what your friend Lea has told you, but the truth is all the members get possessed by Xehanort. Terra was the first.”

 

“Lea said they got brainwashed, or something,” Sora told her.

 

“Then he either lied to you, or he also doesn’t know the truth.” Aqua sat down by her fire and Sora followed suit.

 

“Well, if Lea could break free from the Organization, then Terra can, too!” Sora told her optimistically.

 

“I’ve been here for ten years trying to figure out how to get Terra back,” she sighed, “but he was the first. I think Xehanort might actually be fused into him. Terra used to have brown hair, and now it’s silver. He called himself Ansem for a while and then when he formed The Organization, he started calling himself Xemnas. He’s not Terra anymore, but I can’t… I just can’t leave without him… Not that I have a way out, anyway.”

 

She turned and looked at Sora fully for the first time. “It’s really nice to finally have someone to talk to,” she sighed. “Why aren’t you with your friends, though?”

 

“We got attacked by some Organization members and I ran off,” Sora admitted. “I can use my airbending to see what’s in the air around me, so I didn’t need the light of Lea’s fire like Ventus did. I hope they’re okay…”

 

“So you’re an airbender, like Ven,” Aqua smiled.

 

“Yeah…” Sora said without really thinking. “Hey, can you teach me to waterbend?”

 

“You just said you were an airbender,” Aqua laughed.

 

“Yeah… Yeah, I did…” Sora replied quietly, “but I’m also a waterbender and a firebender and an earthbender. Apparently.”

 

Aqua immediately jumped up.

 

“Are you telling me,” she whisper-yelled, “that _you_ are the _avatar_?!”

 

“That’s what I was told,” Sora shrugged unenthusiastically. “But I haven’t been able to bend anything but air yet.”

 

“Oh my _god_ , Sora, you can’t _be_ here!” Aqua cried. She quickly bent some water over the fire and then grabbed Sora and pulled him up as soon as the light was extinguished.

 

“Hey!” Sora protested. “What are you doing?!”

 

“You’re going to use your airbending to get back to your friends and then we are getting the _hell_ out of here because I’ll be _damned_ if Xehanort gets possession of the _freaking_ avatar!”

 

“I don’t know where they are!” Sora hissed, trying to yank his arm away. “I ran away from them when they wouldn’t help me find Riku. After they freaked out when I told them I was the avatar…”

 

“Well, there’s a good reason for that!” Aqua snorted, still holding onto his arm. “You’re still a kid and you don’t understand how dire your situation is!”

 

“I’m not leaving this realm until I find Riku!” Sora shouted. “I don’t care how long it takes or who I have to fight!”

 

Suddenly Sora felt something in the air move.

 

“Aqua, get down!”

 

He moved in front of her just in time to get hit with a blast of air so forceful it knocked him unconscious.

 

“Who’s there?!” Aqua yelled.

 

“Long time, no see, Aqua,” Xaldin greeted, his voice coming from right in front of her. She leapt back before she realized that the man was taking Sora. Quickly, she bent water from the water hole she'd made near her camp and reached out, trying to find the abducter.

 

“Nuh uh uh,” Xaldin tsked, blasting her with a wall of air.

 

“Please, leave the kid,” Aqua begged. “If you let him go, you can take me as your prisoner instead. I’ll join your Organization.”

 

“Hm. This is kid is that important to you?” Xaldin mused. “He must be pretty valuable, then, considering you’ve only just met him.”

 

And then Aqua was knocked out with a sharp bolt of air.

 

* * *

 

 

**FINALLY…**

 

**BACK WHERE I BELONG…**

 

**WHERE _WE_ BELONG.**

 

 

When Axel woke up, something felt _wrong_. First of all, he was in the infirmary. Secondly, _his head_ … God, did his head _hurt_.

 

“Ah, awake already.” It was their doctor, Zexion. He moved to tower over Axel as he woke up.

 

“Zexion… what happened to me…?”

 

“You were out on a mission and got knocked out,” Zexion told him, bending healing water over him. “Saix retrieved you, though he got a nasty cut on his face while doing so. I treated it but even I couldn’t prevent the scarring. You, too, I’m afraid, now don blemishes on your cheeks.”

 

Axel lifted a heavy arm to reach up and touch his cheek. He felt the raised skin.

 

“Why don’t I remember the mission?” he asked.

 

“You’re suffering from acute amnesia, of course,” Zexion replied, retracting his healing water. “You’re bound to be confused and disoriented for a day or two. No missions for two days, doctor’s orders.”

 

“Aw, come on, I’m fine!” Axel whined, attempting to get out of bed but failing because his body felt so heavy.

 

“Bedrest. Two days,” Zexion repeated. Axel groaned and gave in, laying back onto the pillow on his bed. Something still felt like it was _missing_ though…

 

“Where’s Saix?” Axel asked as Zexion moved around the room doing whatever it was that doctors did.

 

“Probably doing paper work or giving out missions,” Zexion shrugged. “I’m not his keeper.”

 

“But you said he got hurt, too,” Axel said, “Why isn’t _he_ bedridden?”

 

“He got a scratch on his face, not a blow to the head,” Zexion explained patiently. “You’ve been in a coma for almost a week.”

 

“A week? Yikes,” Axel sighed. “Well, tell him I’m awake and to stop by next time he’s not ‘busy’ _.”_

 

“Very well. I’ll alert him that you’ve woken up.” And with that, Zexion left the room.

 

Axel stared up at the white ceiling. Something _really_ didn’t feel right. He tried to think back to the last thing he could remember, but his mind was so blurry it just made his head ache more.

 

He wanted to talk to Saix. Saix wouldn’t lie to him. Saix was the only person he could really trust.

 

Axel must have fallen back asleep while waiting for Saix because he was suddenly being shaken awake.

 

“…mm?” he mumbled sleepily.

 

“Zexion said you wanted to see me. I’m too busy to wait around all day for you to wake up.”

 

Axel blinked sleep from his brain but his head was still foggy.

 

“Saix… your face… ugh…”

 

“Well, thank you for _that_.”

 

“That’s not… I didn’t mean…”

 

Saix nodded to Zexion to give them the room. Zexion nodded and left the two alone. Saix sat on Axel’s bed.

 

“It’s good to have you back,” he stated indifferently.

 

“C’mon, show a little more emotion than that,” Axel teased him, reaching up his heavy arm so he could touch the discolored X that was now etched on his best friend’s face.

 

“Axel, would you ever choose anyone over me?”

 

Axel was a little taken aback by the question.

 

“Of course not,” he replied, sounding perplexed. “It’s you and me forever. Got it memorized?”

 

Finally, Saix smiled.

 

“That’s right. I still hold you to that promise.”

 

Axel felt confused. “When have I ever broken that promise?”

 

Saix’s smile faded. His amber eyes met Axel’s dull yellow ones.

 

“Never.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading Meltdown! Please look forward to the sequel, Under the Darkness, coming soon! I'm already on chapter 7 of it! The story gets a lot deeper. Drama, romance, twists, and more! GET HYPED!!!


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